Guardian

by yasha012

I used to want to save existence... I saw it as this beautiful place, capable of fostering life in all of its many forms. A place with the potential to nurture so much Light. But the closer I got to it... the more I fought for it… the better I could see the Darkness waiting within… the evil we would all rather forget. (Part 4 of the Hero series; sequel to "Eternal Shadow Falls".)

215. Bitten

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this attack… especially for the one who was chosen.

~保護者~

"Bitten"

~保護者~

Careful to hide his scent and aura, Zsasha landed on a sturdy tree branch. Before him stood a house that had been hidden from all up until just a few minutes ago. Based on Lior's recent report regarding Ghune, Zsasha could guess why this place was revealed now. Whatever barrier she must have been maintaining has fallen. Her mental state is likely far from conducive to maintaining such a structure effectively. Whatever the reason, whether it was that or something else, it didn't matter. His job had been made easier. That was all he cared about.

Observation was all he was here for. He might have been tempted to act upon any information he stood poised to gather, if not for the fact that he couldn't not notice the children inside. Tch. Four of them… and one is an infant. There went any possibility of him doing much. But at least he could attempt to learn about his quarry in the short time he was here. He refused to pass up an opportunity to learn about the first ever Immortal vampire.

It was intriguing that such a thing had somehow occurred, and was even more so when one considered how protective of the man Ghune seemed to be. Surely he was capable of fending for himself… children or no children. She cares for him in some form or fashion, but not romantically. Perhaps they are friends. He wasn't going to be able to discern the nature of their relationship from out here. All he could do was focus on his senses and what they were telling him.

First, he focused on his nose. Sight was useless since the object of his curiosity was inside, so he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Immediately, he was struck by how much stress there was in the Immortal's scent. He supposed that could have been related to the baby, but there was no real telling. And there was a great deal of magic Zsasha could smell also. It seemed this man had a unique amount of raw talent in that area. That was good to note just in case he, Lior, or Cyca ever did wind up battling him.

Next, he listened. Tuning out the children as much as possible, he focused only on the sounds made by the Immortal. He memorized the sound of his voice just in case. At the same time, he took note of the tension contained within that voice. So far as Zsasha could tell, the man's voice was ordinarily calm and not very emotional. The man was certainly trying to cultivate that sort of tone now… but he was slipping up. Coupling that with the steadily increasing rate of his pulse, it became clear what was going on. He is growing hungry. As a new-blood, he will not have control.

Zsasha would have ordinarily not even considered getting involved. It wasn't his business and he didn't care. Except… the safety of those children was something he did care about. He didn't know why he had this weakness in him, much less why it always persisted no matter how many "evil" things he did. It probably didn't even matter to begin with. What mattered was figuring out what he was going to do about the situation he now found himself in. Because, in the end, weakness or not… he couldn't ignore this.

Gritting his teeth, he stood from his crouch and prepared to reveal himself. Further observations were going to have to wait. Surely this man had friends and other allies keeping watch over him and those vulnerable children left in his care. Perhaps he even had some sort of a partner. A… "love". Presenting a danger in such close proximity to the other vampire was bound to get someone's attention. Someone the man would likely trust to help before he lost control. With that in mind, Zsasha flared his aura with as many negative thoughts as he could conjure up fueling the false sense of ill-intent he was projecting. Then he promptly vanished. This was no longer his problem.

~保護者~

Cyril had decided to give himself a short break away from it all. It wasn't as if he was avoiding responsibility, however. He kept his senses open for any trouble he should interject in. However… he felt like he was due for at least a couple seconds of fun. Now that he could basically fly (he still wasn't sure how that worked), the finch was plummeting at breakneck speeds down a cliff, idly fiddling with a new magic item he'd conjured into his hand.

It was a compass, and he designed it to track people and things provided the person holding it knew about the target. It was neat to watch, observing the needle spin about in its three dimensional sphere to point in the direction of Wave and then Eila. He did note that the needle was often in different places for Eila… but she was obviously busy. If anything, he was glad that things seemed to be going good for her. Even if they were split apart, it warmed his heart to know that she had continued recovering. A tinge of sadness washed over his mood briefly, but he knew it was better this way.

He tucked the item away and twisted around, bending his knees and using his magic to cushion the blow before taking off at supersonic speeds across this planet. He laughed aloud as he soared over an ocean, dragging his hand over the surface of the water and watching the trail soar into the sky. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he spun around again, skidding to a stop on the water and using his magic to stand atop it. I bet she'd really like this. How in the world do I get ahold of Teyan, though?

Whether it was his special gift of Luck or something else that brought her to him, perhaps no one would ever know. The end result was the same regardless. A flash of rainbow-colored Chaos heralded her arrival. Then, with a yelp, she plummeted from her portal straight into the water. This resulted in a wave that crashed over his full body right before she broke her head clear to get some air. By some miracle, she apparently knew how to swim. "What in the name of the Faein…?" she complained, more to herself than anything else.

Cyril laughed a little at her brief misfortune before kindly pulling her out of the water and casting the same spell for her that let him stand on the water. "You okay? Plummeting into random parts of existence is kinda my thing."

"I'm fine," Teyan answered, throwing a smile his way. "Although, my fur is soaked. But believe you me, I've suffered far worse indignities before than simply falling headlong into… whatever this stuff is called. I'll be alright."

The finch simply shrugged at this and snapped a finger, removing the water off their skin, fur, feathers, and clothes before discarding it back into the ocean. "Good to know. I'd hate it if you somehow got hurt."

Teyan smiled and shook her head. "This would not have harmed me, I can assure you."

"Good!" Cyril beamed happily and looked down at the water. "So, obviously you know how to swim, but have you ever seen what's in the ocean?"

"No. Is that what this stuff is? An 'ocean'?" Teyan looked down as well, frowning. "What even would be in it?"

"Oh, so much stuff." Cyril held out a hand to her. "Come on, I'll show you" He thought for a moment, then added, "This is all water, but because of how much is here and where it is, it's called an ocean."

She took a moment to commit those words to memory before nodding slowly. "I see. And how are we meant to see what's underneath it?"

Cyril motioned to his outstretched hand. "I'll cover us in magic so we can breathe, and then I'll make it so we can see. Just trust me." Teyan looked over at him with a smile and gladly took her new friend's hand. He did exactly as he said he would, casting the two spells in rapid succession before pulling her under the water suddenly with him. "Oh, and I guess I should make it so we can communicate with my magic, too. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can," Teyan answered in kind. She was already looking around just about everywhere all at once.

"Awesome!" Cyril pulled her along gently, making them practically soar through the water in the direction of the coast. "I bet you'll love this."

It didn't take long for Teyan to spot the first fish she'd ever seen. Her eyes wide, she pointed at the vibrantly-colored animal. "What is that?"

"It's called a fish. They adapted to have something that lets them breathe the oxygen out of water. There's a ton of different breeds and species." Cyril beamed, bringing them a bit closer to the creature, only for it to swim away rapidly.

Teyan made a sound of pure, innocent delight. "It was beautiful," she murmured. "And there are more of them?"

"So many more."

"What else is there to look at?"

Cyril could only grin, speeding up their travel by a great amount. "Just a few seconds and we'll be there." Teyan nodded. She kept looking around, amazed by everything she was seeing. The sensation of moving through the water was something she was already finding to be pleasant. Soon, they arrived at the destination. Cyril slowed them to a stop above a coral reef, the myriad of colors of fish, coral, and plant life mixing together to create a mosaic of nature. Teyan was so in awe of what she was seeing that she couldn't form the necessary words to express it. All she could do was just stare.

When Teyan didn't do much besides stare, Cyril took the initiative and pulled her closer to it all slowly. "It's so much prettier up close," he said. Teyan soon had to agree with his assessment, and she nodded eagerly. Several small fish flitted past them on their way, soon followed by a larger and lazier one that genuinely didn't seem bothered by their presence. She reached out and touched it, which caused her to smile brightly.

Cyril didn't stop smiling, slowly pulling her along with him until he gasped, eyes wide with excitement. A shark swam into view and he suddenly split off from her, going over to inspect it. Teyan swam after him as quickly as she could manage. When she spied the animal's teeth, she immediately decided that she was impressed by said animal. "What is this one?" she asked once she'd caught up.

"Oh, it's a shark!" Cyril said happily. "They're kinda like fish, but they can't stop moving. If they stop moving, they basically stop breathing. They're super cool, because they also have really good senses of smell."

Teyan took this in with a slow nod as the shark drifted casually by them. "It's so large," she murmured. "And not at all bothered by us."

"It doesn't care about us," Cyril explained. "People think they're cold-blooded killers, but really they're so wrong. Sharks don't really go for things as big as us often."

She took a moment to consider this new information. "It's a predator, too, isn't it?"

"Mhm!"

She grinned once more. "Amazing…" Without warning, she turned and gave Cyril a tight hug. "Thank you for showing me all of this. I can't… even describe how much I love it."

Cyril blinked, then returned the hug with a smile. "I'm glad you like it. I told you there was so much to see, and I wanted to show you."

She gave him a squeeze and then let him go. "You were definitely right about there being more to see. I never would have known without you. So… thank you, truly."

The finch smiled a little wider. "No need to thank me. I would've shown you all of this stuff even if you had seen it before." For once, Cyril felt like he was at a loss for words, like nothing he said here would be quite what he wanted them to be. He didn't understand why, however.

Whether or not Teyan had a response to that, her train of thought was derailed. An entire school of fish swarmed into view without warning, causing her to completely lose herself to the wonder of the moment all over again. Then she suddenly turned back to him and gently took one of his hands in both of hers. "I just thought of something I'd like to show you, too, once we're finished here. Will you still be free, or do you need to leave soon?"

Cyril blinked when she took one of his hands, then tilted his head. "I should be free, unless something comes up."

Teyan beamed at him. "Great! Now let's find some more 'fish' to look at!"

The finch thought this through for a second, then gasped, suddenly taking a stronger hold on her hands before shooting off with her in tow further out into the ocean again. "I had an idea!"

"What is it?" Teyan asked.

Cyril didn't stop until he'd come across what he'd been looking for, letting Teyan look up at a gigantic school of silvery and shiny fish that moved every which way. She was immediately taken by their shimmering scales and wound up just sort of… gaping at them. Cyril soon turned to her with a bright grin, waiting to hear her thoughts. Eventually she said, "They're beautiful, Cyril."

"I know, right? And it's so cool to know that they travel in big groups like this, just roaming around in search of food," Cyril said, pleased to know she liked it.

She thought about this for a moment. "What would fish even eat? Aside from the predators, I mean."

"Depends on where they live. These fish eat a bunch of microorganisms, stuff that's too small for someone to see without like… a magnifying glass." Teyan nodded slowly in understanding, though she didn't know what a magnifying glass was and it showed on her face. Cyril smiled. "Other fish will eat smaller fish or other little creatures."

"I see." Teyan was quick to return his smile. "Let's go find some more!"

Cyril laughed a little and took hold of her hand again, taking off at high speeds away from this particular school. I wonder if I can find a whale… Teyan held on just tightly enough to remain in his grip as she looked around. The finch focused his attention, then suddenly redirected. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, gazing down upon a small family of whales.

Teyan was once again in awe of what she was seeing, this time because of their immense size. "What are those?"

"These are whales. They breathe air through a hole in the top of their body and hold their breath while underwater," Cyril explained.

"Incredible," Teyan murmured. "Such a unique way to live… I never would have suspected."

"There's a ton of variety in the universe, and sometimes even just a different part of somewhere you've been," Cyril said with a soft smile.

"I haven't been to many places," Teyan reminded him quietly. "In the early days of existence, I took it for granted that I could travel if I so chose, only to wind up staying home. Then my sister and I were sealed away by Nareish. It was only a matter of months ago that we were finally freed. It's been… so long since the last time we were able to travel that I lost track of the number of years that went by." She turned her head and returned Cyril's smile. "But I'm glad I'm getting to see all of this now. Experiencing it with a friend makes it even better."

"Like I said, I'll take you places. Show you things. I'm bound to find things I've never seen. I've always been a mortal, so this planet is my home. I know a lot about it, but exploring the universe bit by bit is on my to-do list." Cyril put his hands on his hips. "You can't know the future, so don't let yourself get too wrapped up in the decisions you made in the past. Just make the best of this now. Have fun and roam around when you can, and when this war is over, go wherever you want."

"I know. And I will." Teyan was quiet for a moment before saying, "I want to show you my home sometime. It's a part of me, and I'm a part of it. As much as I wanted to have the ability to leave it, I do still love it there. I think there are parts of it you'd like, too."

Cyril shrugged a little in reply. "I figured you'd want me to at some point. You tell me when and I'll make some time, okay?" He passed her another smile. "I'd love to see your home, and we can take turns showing each other things."

"I am always free as of now, so you tell me when you have time," Teyan answered. "As for taking turns, that sounds wonderful. Oh, and whenever we do go to my realm, you should be able to meet my younger sister as well. She may feel inclined to tease you more than I do. Fair warning."

The finch blinked, then smiled to Teyan yet again. It was just so easy to do with her. "Fair enough. I feel like I'm about to be needed for something, so once that's all handled, I should be free for a bit."

"That sounds good," Teyan agreed happily.

Cyril watched Teyan for a few seconds, then tilted his head a little. He felt like… he was missing something. It was like there was something going on here that he hadn't picked up on, but he couldn't figure out what it was. "With that covered, wanna keep roaming around until one of us needs to go?"

"Oh, yes, please!" Teyan answered, her eyes and voice bright.

Something about her reply warmed Cyril's heart and he nodded, gently taking one of her hands once more and pulling her along in the ocean once more.

~保護者~

At about the same time that Tails and Wery came back inside from their promised walk with Maria, Sonic came rushing inside as well through the back door. Amy stood, struck by the expression on her husband's face. However, before she could speak, Sonic dashed up to Tara. This may not have been the same Tara he had once known, but he spoke to her as easily as if she was. "Where's Steam?" he demanded quickly.

Tara blinked several times. "I don't know," she admitted. "I can call him. What's the matter?"

"It's… Dark Gaia," Sonic responded as she turned on her communicator. The reason for his terror was now clear. This was a creature that had traumatized him in the past by orphaning him once… and then trying to do the same thing a second time. "I don't know exactly where it is, only that it's back and coming here."

Amy and Tails traded wide-eyed looks, both equally pale. Silver and Blaze, who were on the other side of the room with Kohaku, visibly froze up. Tara, meanwhile, frowned and pursed her lips. She knew full-well the severity of this situation. Her finger hit the "call" button without delay. Pick up, Steam. Pick up.

It was only a few seconds before Steam answered, immediately asking, "Is something wrong?"

"Very," Tara answered him. "Get here when you can. Dark Gaia is on its way."

"...Fuck. Be there shortly. I just found Althea. Pass on the news that Locke is alive and with someone who will take care of him."

"Got it. Be safe, Steam." Tara took the receiver away from her mouth long enough to relay the information as promised. Thankfully, Sonic seemed to relax a little.

"You too. Love you."

"I love you, too."

Steam gave a soft sigh and looked up to Althea after he and Tara hung up. "I'm glad that you and Locke already had a chance to speak. He's still on Mobius if you want to find him again. All you'll need to do is sense a shroud of Light that he's being hidden within."

"I understand," Althea answered. "Thank you for being willing to help him track me down, even though I wound up being a touch faster than you." That last bit was said with a teasing lilt to her voice, and her eyes sparkled with amusement and gratitude in equal measure.

If he hadn't learned to pick up those minute changes in someone's voice, he might have taken that poorly. Luckily, he knew better. "Ah. I just do what I can. Not always the fastest or the best at things, but I can get around and track people better than most."

"So I have noticed." Althea bowed a little, not unlike a Tokarian, then waved farewell. "Perhaps I will see you some other time, yes?"

Steam returned the bow, if only out of respect. "Most likely. I'm the liaison between Locke's friends and allies, the Gods and Goddesses, and the Immortals… more often than not. There's a fair chance I'll come across you again."

"Understood." With that, Althea took her leave, departing rather anticlimactically by just turning and walking away.

The hedgehog watched her go for a few seconds before teleporting back toward Mobius. He didn't quite appear on the planet, but instead nearby. Sure enough, he could sense the approach of Dark Gaia. He would never forget such a presence. Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me… We're not ready to fight this thing.

He didn't let himself dwell. Every second could matter now, so he teleported once more and appeared in Tails's home, immediately approaching Tara. She saw him coming and waved him over with a serious look on her face. It was clear that no discussions had been taking place yet while they'd waited for him. Tails and Wery had wandered off with Maria by now in order to put her back to bed, but they soon returned. "Alright, so. I wasn't quite on Mobius when I did it, but I confirmed that it's approaching."

"Yeah, we were already confident about it," Sonic said, visibly antsy. "I sensed it and Silver did the same shortly afterward." It struck him as weird as hell that he'd picked up on it first for once, but ultimately he didn't pay it much mind.

Steam took a deep breath and thought this matter through. "Okay… One issue I immediately need to figure out is how we're going to get the Light we need to combat this thing. Analia is still resting, and not to mention needs more rest, and Rose simply doesn't have strong enough Light right now."

Kohaku raised his hand. "I'll do what I can to help. I won't sit this out." Blaze watched him worriedly but, eventually, nodded her approval. She wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it and she could tell.

"We'll definitely need your help if things continue on the current path," Steam replied, looking to Kohaku. It was nice seeing him able to function properly again, managing to put a smile on his own face. "I'll probably need to seek out Tessa as well, but I can almost guarantee she'll help. All she's gonna need is an explanation."

From what tiny bit he knew about her from their one conversation, Sonic had to agree. "Yeah. She shouldn't have any reason to say no."

Amy decided to speak up then. "What else is needed? I mean… Last time, you had to go Super and grant me, Knuckles, and Tails the ability to as well. Are we going to have to do that again?"

"It shouldn't be necessary," Steam answered, crossing his arms in thought. "We have plenty of powerful allies to call on, but the fact that we don't have access to the level of Light that ensures we can beat Dark Gaia means we're gonna need more people."

Silver thought about everything for a moment. "So… what about Gramps?" he asked. "His magic took that thing out once before, and he's only gotten stronger since then. Heck, his mom has the same magic, too, doesn't she?"

"Part of the trouble with that is that… Well, the whole situation he was forced into is still severely affecting him. I can't guarantee he'd even respond well to someone approaching him, but it's absolutely worth trying," Steam answered.

Realizing Steam didn't know yet, Sonic quietly cleared his throat and said, "Dad… approached me recently, actually. He went to see Shadow and Toru, too. He's more willing to interact and talk than any of us were giving him credit for. He even let me hug him. Twice."

There was a part of Steam that was hurt, but he had to remind himself that this Kaden didn't even know him. Not really. "That's… good. I'm glad to hear it." His tone softened suddenly, asking a careful question. "How is he doing…?"

"Better than he was, but still not… great," Sonic admitted. "The triplets died, Steam. Whatever progress he and Zareil might have made in recovering prior to that was set back because Nareish killed them. But, even considering that, he was doing pretty okay. The lack of severe anxiety or mood swings proved that."

Steam winced more than he expected to at hearing all of that, enough so that his fingers curled into his palm. "I… shit. That's really awful. Good that he's doing okay, but… god…"

Sonic decided to try and keep them both focused, for both of their sakes. It would've been too easy to get lost in their mutual emotions. "You and I should try talking to him after this, even if we don't mention Dark Gaia to him. Alright?"

"Yeah." Steam turned his head, trying to think of something else. "We, uh… I'll probably need to get in contact with Wave, Cyril, and Eila for varying reasons. If we can't get the Light we need, Wave's tie to the Aether should… be enough to make up the gap."

"I will help you talk to them when we are finished here," Tara murmured. "You can go with Sonic after we make those calls."

Steam was immediately thankful for her words, nodding with a gentle smile. "Beyond them, I'm not sure who else we need to contact, but this would be a good point to gather together anyone that can help. Have I missed anyone that you all can think of?"

"...My fire attacks Darkness," Blaze eventually said. She was reluctant, but Sonic strongly suspected that it was down to her grief more than anything else. "If you believe it will be needed, I will use it to help fight."

"If nothing else, every little bit will help," Steam said. "Though, we will need to make sure that it doesn't get the chance to attack you."

"If she joins the fight, I'll join, too, to protect her," Silver answered. "Actually, no, I'd do it anyway to help defend Kohaku. But still."

If this situation were any less serious, Steam might have teared up. He felt especially emotional today. I love the people I call my friends… "Good to hear. I expected nothing less of you."

Silver smiled slightly. "The only other thing I have to say is that I still think talking to Seiko would be a good idea if Gramps really isn't up to participating in this. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas."

"You're absolutely right," Steam replied. And for that matter, Saran could potentially be helpful if we can get him back here soon enough. "Tara, we need to speak to Eila first."

Tara blinked, then frowned thoughtfully. "Alright. Why, though?"

Steam blinked in reply, then realized why he needed to explain. "Saran was corrupted, and I have a feeling that she's been the one trying to handle it. After all, she's been running back and forth all over existence recently."

By now, everyone here had heard about the unusual corruption. Tara's expression became a bit grim. "Understood. We will call her first, then."

The green hedgehog nodded to this, then looked to Sonic. "Have you spoken to Teyan or Ythene recently?"

"Teyan a bit," Sonic said. He knew where this was probably going. "We're working on training already. Don't worry about it."

Steam blinked. "Oh, I wasn't worried. I just-" He didn't know how to continue his thoughts from there, and he frowned visibly. "I trust you."

"Feeling's mutual," Sonic assured him. "Promise." As he spoke, Tara began to rub Steam's back soothingly.

Wery piped up before Steam could vanish like he tended to. "I've already sent out a message to Eila, Cyril, and Wave for you so they know to expect a call soon. Eila replied and said that she's going to need a few minutes. Cyril's message… I'm not gonna try to interpret it. It's a garbled mess of letters, numbers, and symbols."

Surprised, Tails leaned over to look. "Uh… That's… weird," was all he had to say. Then he commented, "Looks like Wave hasn't replied, but she did look at Wery's message. She's probably just waiting."

Steam had to suspect that Cyril was doing something none of them would guess, and that was why his message was garbled. The rest of the information given to him was relieving, however. "I suppose, in that case, we'll call Wave, first," Steam said, turning toward Tara.

Before any of them could place the call, a message came in to his communicator from Wave. "If this is about Dark Gaia, I'll be there."

The hedgehog was visibly shaken by this, for one reason or another. He blinked and stared at the words for several seconds, then typed out a reply. "I have other things to talk to you about, but always glad to know I can count on you."

Tara walked over and gently reached past Steam to press the "call" button for him. Wave answered immediately with a brief, "Hey."

Instinctively, Steam gently grabbed Tara's wrist and walked toward the door. "Hey. I wanted to check in on a few things. Your dad okay?"

"Yeah," Wave confirmed. "Apart from the amnesia, he's fine. Cyril purified him somehow. I don't know if you heard, but he also took out the Widow by himself. Even taking into consideration that he had Privilege from Jet, that was quite a feat."

Steam felt like this information was supposed to be familiar, but decided ultimately that he couldn't think about whether he'd known this or not. He was too frazzled right now. "Cyril's a prodigy and a natural. I hate that he put that on himself, but he's good. He probably doesn't know how he beat her, though."

"Probably not," Wave had to agree.

"Is Jet okay?" That question was bound to come out, and it was always on his mind no matter how often he checked in.

"The Aether and I calmed him down enough that the Aether was able to make him sleep for a while," Wave murmured. "He's doing okay right now. I'll let you know how he is when he wakes up, if something goes wrong. Otherwise, assume no news is good news, okay?"

"Kinda hard to, but I'll try." Steam frowned briefly in thought, then asked, "How's the Aether? Have you two tested using your abilities together?"

"Not… as much as we should have by now, no," Wave admitted. "As far as how it's doing, it seems fine to me. I think it might be napping at the moment. It was over the moon to 'meet an uncle' earlier and spazzed out for a while." She paused. "…Oh, right, I should have mentioned it but tae Thane came out of the woodwork recently. Guess he helped convince Dad to accept Cyril's help. He's sticking around for the moment."

"Well, shit. That's… surprising." Steam decided to ignore that matter for a second to offer advice. "As a bit of a beginning for training, I recommend starting with using some of its 'illusory' abilities. Instead of cloning, you can briefly multiply yourself or even just your limbs to do something from multiple places. Even if it's as simple as tossing four balls of the Aether's energy against a wall, it's a useful skill to master. Would let you cast multiple hexes at once, if you got good with it."

Wave's forming grin was audible. "Nice… Yeah, we'll get to work on that soon."

"Shoot me a message when you think you've got it and I'll drop by for a second to see. Anything happen on your end that I haven't asked about, yet?"

"Sounds good. And, yeah, um…" Wave trailed off, clearing her throat uncomfortably. "I'm sure you know how most Hexans are and, subsequently, how Dad's mom and her sister were. I wasn't close to them and neither was he or Thane, but even so… Even so, this is still bad news. It turns out that ati Alonei and tae Aera are both dead. Dad killed ati when he started losing control of the corruption and, apparently, a Pyrzar beast mauled tae Aera to death a few weeks ago. And on top of that, even tae Thane has no idea where their dad is, even though he told Dad and I that he was willing to help in the war. He might be dead, too."

Steam frowned a little at this, thinking it all through. "I'll look for him. I've got a feeling that Yorik is alive."

"I hope so," Wave murmured. "We need him, and he's more like Dad and I than ati ever was. He's a good person and a good ally."

"I'll find him."

"Thank you."

"Absolutely. Any time. Anything else before I try to figure out what the fuck Cyril is doing?"

"Oh, god," Wave laughed, her somber mood lifting rapidly. "No, go deal with him. Or at least try to. Good luck, Steam."

"I gotta assume he's like, swimming or stuck in some slime or something. His reply to Wery was a garbled mess of whatever exists in a keyboard. I will probably need that luck until I find him." Wave's only response was even harder laughter at the mere idea of her friend having gotten caught up in such a mess. That laugh made Steam smile, and he followed it up by speaking. "I'll deal with him real fast. Thanks for catching me up. See you."

"Sure," Wave said once she'd caught her breath a little. "Talk to you later." She went ahead and hung up.

Steam looked over to Tara and suddenly laid his head on her shoulder, taking a long and deep breath. "Sorry. Don't know why I'm feeling like this today."

"You don't need to apologize," Tara answered. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I'm not upset. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Thanks." Steam managed a gentle smile and allowed himself a moment to relax. I've missed this.

~保護者~

Ghune found herself startled out of her unconscious state with the sound of rain and a cold sensation washing over her body. She lifted her gaze into the sky, only blinking her eyes shut when droplets of water landed in one of them. This place was familiar. It was the world on which she had come into existence. In a way, it was almost fitting that in a moment of near-death… she returned to what was essentially her true home.

She had to focus, even past the fact that she felt absolutely disgusting. Despite the fact that she was soaked, she felt like she was sweating. Her eyes were luckily focused, but her mind felt so foggy and distant. The vampire was exhausted. Memories flooded her mind as she woke up more and more, a vague recollection of her fight with Lior. She'd lost control completely. The woman didn't even know where her sword was. It wasn't terribly important, but that fact only served to make her feel worse.

"Mierda." Ghune stood up slowly (as fast as she could), and wavered there for a moment. She'd cut off her arms in response to Lior stabbing her. That much she fully remembered now. It explained why her clothing was ripped and there were no coverings for her tattooed arms. Instinctively, a hand raised to cover her mouth before she doubled down and retched, the vile taste making her recoil once she had control of her bodily functions again.

I lost a lot of blood. That… explains this. Understanding her medical situation better now, she allowed her body more time to adjust. Gave it a chance to start replenishing more of her blood. I need… I need Xin. I…

She blinked away a few tears. Though it wasn't truly present, she could practically smell Ryint's blood still. Ghune didn't want to imagine how her best friend had died. It hurt too much. She tried to press on, ultimately unable to do so and falling on her rear as she covered her head. Wordless screams escaped her and nothing else. The woman wanted nothing more than to just have Ryint here, that comforting hand on her shoulder that never ceased to help.

I'm so sorry… I didn't protect you. I should have done better.

I should have stopped him. You'd still be alive.

I fucking hate you, Lior.

Ghune didn't feel like she was in control of herself anymore. She felt lost and alone. Tired. Exhausted. She wanted revenge but lacked the energy to take it. Eventually, she managed to pull herself to her feet, wiping at her face and removing the traces of those disgusting emotions. They barely had a place in her mind right now. If Xin was still alive, she needed to know. Her vampiric aura was… radiating off her, but she didn't care. Someone had to die. It wouldn't be anymore of her friends.

The woman appeared at the forge and quickly moved her legs, sensing the impending danger of some runes. Her gaze locked onto them curiously, her eyes shifting to reveal the magic hidden beneath the ground, implanted near the walls. This was an unusual protection for the God of the Forge. Therian magic. Calypso? Without an ounce of hesitation, she teleported directly to the door and knocked firmly. "Xin!"

It didn't take more than two seconds for him to appear outside beside her. He took in her appearance and demanded, "What in the hell happened?"

All of her anger abated at once now that she was forced to admit it aloud. She couldn't cry anymore, but her expression softened immensely. "Lior… He killed Ryint, then attacked me. I made a foolish mistake and… I almost died as well." She couldn't disguise the pain in her voice, not like she could normally.

Xin's shoulders sagged at this news. He'd never been as close to Ryint as Ghune… but she had been a friend nonetheless. Hearing of her death caused him pain as well. "I'm… I'm so sorry," he murmured, unable to find any words to comfort her with. Since he certainly had more available energy than her at the moment, he began using his magic to help speed her healing along.

"What happened here?" she asked in a soft, careful tone. "Are you okay?"

Uncharacteristic anger was still simmering beneath the surface in his aura, but Xin's voice was level when he answered. "As I told you during our brief… discussion earlier, Cyca showed up. She thought it would be funny to put my brother-in-law and my son's girlfriend to sleep, pick a fight, and taunt me over Fenwyn's death. Then a man named Cyril came along and forced her to leave, healed my wound, repaired the damage to the area, and left himself." He chose not to mention his near-total lapse in control following all of that.

Ghune lowered her gaze, something she simply refused to do normally. The implication was obvious. They had both lost control in the face of these events. She wasn't going to bring that up, however. It went without saying. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. I had no reason to snap at you the way I did. You did not deserve that."

"I apologize as well," Xin said. "I also snapped when I shouldn't have. All is forgiven on my end, though."

"Likewise." It only reoccurred to Ghune now that her sword was still missing. She teleported it into her grasp and sheathed it once more, sighing. "Lior went further with his venom than I had ever anticipated. According to his words, it spreads throughout the body and will leave even a vampire paralyzed."

"Joy of joys," Xin grumbled, crossing his arms. "And you never found anything out about a cure for that garbage, did you?"

She sighed softly. "The problem with a cure is that the venom causes such rapid damage. It targets the nerves, rendering them… well, completely destroyed." She finally looked back up. "And once it's injected, removing it is nigh impossible. It would have to be a shallow wound."

"Aye," Xin agreed with a sigh of his own. "And therein lies the rub, I suppose. The chances of him leaving a serious target with only shallow wounds are likely to be nil."

"In Lior's case, he is incredibly agile. You would need to match that in order to escape such a possibility… or simply keep him at a range."

"I have enough problems with Cyca's agility without contemplating dealing with his as well," Xin grumbled.

"I don't know what to do," Ghune quietly admitted, her shoulders losing their tension and going slack. "If this is how things are going already, I'm unsure I am capable of standing up to face them."

"And this is all without Zsasha having made a single move of his own yet," Xin muttered, frowning to himself. "That doesn't bode well at all."

"On top of this, we have no clue what their next move may be," Ghune pointed out. "Cyca may well return here, or she may not. I can have my doubts about Lior attacking me directly, but I cannot guarantee he would not strike at me again."

Xin's eyes darkened. "Cyca will return here. You and I both know she will. Even ignoring the fact that she loves making my life miserable for her own entertainment, she saw fit to draw blood here today aside from my own. She seldom bothers doing that unless she has taken an interest in the person she's attacked."

Ghune groaned and pushed her thumb and middle finger against her forehead. "You're right. I just… I cannot think. I do not feel well."

"Because your emotions are not stable," Xin dared to say. He probably didn't have as much fear over her potential wrath as was wise. Never had, in fact, despite the fact that he'd once been as shy and gentle as Li often was. But that was before he'd been turned. "You should take more time to recover. And not just physically."

She was quiet for several seconds before nodding. Usually, she would have gotten snippy with him and perhaps chastised him for his reply. Now was not one of those times. Ghune accepted his words. "You are right. I cannot hope to fight back while my body is struggling to stand." And while all of my thoughts are bent on murder…

Returning her nod, Xin moved toward the door and opened it. "Why don't you come in for a minute? Even if you don't feel like talking to anyone, you can at least sit. And my son or brother-in-law can check over your weapon for you."

"I need to procure another set of clothes soon, too…" Ghune muttered in vague irritation. "As it turns out, cutting off your arms removes the fabric, too." She ultimately did walk in, keeping her gaze low for the time.

Xin sort of winced at the mental image of what must have happened. This time, he saw fit to keep his mouth shut. He followed her in, shutting the door behind himself, and gestured to a hall leading left. "The forge proper is that way. If you are willing to trust Sothan with your sword briefly, it sounds like he is already in there working."

Ghune simply nodded. "I would trust the God of the Forge and the former one equally," she murmured, looking to Xin. "It would have been nice to know they were your family. Could have made some parts of my life easier." Her attempt at humor was dry at best, but she was making an effort.

Mild amusement and significant guilt flashed through Xin's eyes simultaneously. He looked away. "It certainly would have been nice to know back then… but my being here now has put them in danger. Sothan is the one Cyca attacked earlier. And I worry Li will be harmed in some fashion as well."

"I could stay, if you believe my presence would ward her off," Ghune murmured softly. "At the very least… I could offer some form of protection for you and your family."

"I don't know," Xin sighed. He resumed walking, heading to where Sothan was. "It's a complicated situation since we're both being hunted."

Ghune acknowledged his words with a nod. "I will leave that choice to you. It is your family," she murmured softly, following beside Xin. "I will not impose."

"Leaving such a major decision entirely up to me is unfair," Xin halfheartedly complained. Then he abruptly changed the subject. "So you're aware, Sothan may not say any more than two words to you. Don't take it personally. He's a much quieter soul than most around strangers." As he spoke, they entered the room they'd been heading toward.

"A quiet soul disturbs mine none," Ghune replied, unsheathing her sword and unintentionally using it to hold her body weight up. She winced at this fact, then raised it off the ground properly. Her gaze shifted around, taking in the sights of the room.

Thankfully, Sothan was in a position to safely stop what he was doing. He did so and turned around, shooting Xin a questioning look. Xin took that as his cue to explain. "This is my friend Ghune. The one I mentioned to you and Li once before. She's taking a rest here for at least a short time and I was hoping you could look at her sword if it's not too much trouble." Sothan took this in with a blink and walked over. He shifted that questioning gaze onto Ghune, silently asking for permission to relieve her of her blade.

Ghune tossed the weapon up and caught it by the blade, handing it over toward Sothan so he could grab it by the handle. "I would appreciate your efforts. I am not skilled as a smith, in truth,"

The former God took the sword and looked it over. He surprised Xin a moment later by responding with a full sentence. "Whoever forged this did fine." He walked over to one of his workstations after that and resumed examining it.

"I will presume that he truly means 'fine'," Ghune murmured, turning back to Xin.

"He means precisely what he said," Xin answered with a shrug. "He isn't the sort to mince words so long as doing so will not wind up being unduly cruel. If he says something, he's sincere about it."

Ghune acknowledged this with a sort of hum before slipping out of the room suddenly and collapsing backward against a wall. The feeling of safety and relief was finally catching up with her. "Mierda…"

Xin knelt beside her, frowning again. He'd heard that word before, but had never known what it meant. "Ghune, at least let me help you to a couch before you give out on me."

"Puta." The woman managed a short chuckle, followed by a sigh. "I simply need a moment."

"Excuses, excuses," Xin huffed, matching her effort to lighten their collective mood. "Try not to fall asleep there, alright?"

"Shut up…" Ghune mumbled, rubbing at her face. "I said I need a moment." Even she realized she was starting to fall asleep, but admitting that to Xin was the last thing she was going to do.

Huffing again, Xin decided he was going to need a hand. He wasn't physically strong enough to lift and guide Ghune if she decided to pass out on him. "Li?" he called down the hall. "Will you come here for a moment please?"

Li approached quickly from another room, and, seeing Ghune, teleported by her side and hefted her up off the ground. Much to her chagrin. "Dad, what happened to her?"

"I'll explain once she's settled," Xin promised. "Will you take her to one of the couches? She needs to get some sleep."

"Yeah, absolutely," Li said, carrying her off and laying her down on the only free couch (since Calypso was asleep on the other one). She'd held out the entire time he was holding her, but when she was laid out, the woman promptly fell asleep.

Xin walked up to Li and motioned for him to go back out into the hall. Once they were both there, he made good on his promise. "Cyca is not the only threat myself and my allies find ourselves facing now," he admitted. "When I had to leave briefly after the fight, I contacted Ghune. She informed me that one of Cyca's… 'friends', a man named Lior, is also alive and causing problems. The two of them had a fight sometime after that conversation when she found out he killed Ryint. It didn't end particularly well for Ghune either, as you can see. And Cyca and Lior's leader, Zsasha, is lurking somewhere in the shadows right now as well. All three of them were dead up until today."

Recognition shone in Li's eyes. "Wait, Ryint is dead? I… I met her once, but these people are strong enough to pose a threat to all of you?"

"Unfortunately, they are," Xin confirmed. "Each one of them is powerful, and each one knows us well enough to know our potential weaknesses. Whereas we know little to nothing about them and theirs." He paused, then corrected himself. "Well, not entirely. Lior was once a student of Ghune's, so she does know some things about him. Not enough to always be of use, however."

Li opened his mouth to speak, then jumped when Novei seemed to just appear beside him. "Why do we not simply hunt them down? Sitting by allows them a chance to recover their spent resources and come up with further plans while we sit in waiting for their next attack." The woman frowned. "It feels quite foolish."

"Trust me, I would rather be out hunting them," Xin muttered. It was a sentence the old him never would have dreamed of uttering. "But as it stands, we have no means of tracking them and no idea where they might have holed up. Expending energy searching fruitlessly for them is just as foolish as sitting around twiddling our thumbs. We're in trouble either way."

Novei didn't like his words, and she couldn't stand the nerves she felt from Li. Her hand moved to one of his shoulders and she squeezed, perhaps a bit too hard judging by his wince. "I wish to break their necks. I do not like them."

"Hopefully an opportunity will arise to do just that before too long," Xin said. Looking at Li's face, he forced himself to let go of his anger again and lighten his tone. "For now… Li, I'd like you to go and try relaxing a bit. I know you're anxious, and I don't want to keep making that worse by continuing this dialogue."

"I still want to be involved," Li replied, frowning. "I know it's not my thing, fighting and all, but I can't just… sit by while my family is in danger. That feels awful."

Novei piped up, letting out a breath. "Li. Go sit. Your emotions are running beyond your control. Surely you know this."

Though her words came out somewhat harsh, he understood where she was intending to come from. As such, he wasn't bothered by it. "Alright… okay." Li nodded slowly and turned away, obviously displeased, but fully understanding their point as he walked off to go try and relax.

"Li," Xin called after him quietly. He was fully prepared to make and keep a new promise. "If anything else comes up, I will keep you in the loop. You won't be shut out in any way so long as you rest some."

"I know," Li sighed, turning around with a weak smile. "I just… don't want anyone to think that I need to sit out of fights. If it's to protect my friends and family, I'll stand up for them."

"I know," Xin repeated back gently. "I don't think that of you at all. No one here does. We fully understand that you're willing and able to help. We just don't want to see you push yourself too hard. That's all."

"You fight well but you have a soft heart," Novei explained further, looking over at Li. "You are open with emotion. You are prone to pain. I do not like you being in pain."

Li took that better than Novei expected, offering a smile. "Thank you, Novei."

After a short pause, Xin wound up wearing a similar but smaller smile. "Begone with you, lad. Take it easy for a bit. We'll all be here if you need anyone."

It took him a couple seconds, but Li did soon walk on to his room like they wanted. Novei then turned to Xin and murmured, "If anything else happens, I'm going to kill them myself. The weight on his shoulders is something I cannot stand for."

"Aye," he agreed just as quietly and with just as much conviction. "I refuse to stand for it, either. They need to be dealt with, whether it's by my hand or another's. And since I doubt I can change your mind, all I'll say is that you must be careful for Li's sake. I suspect it will truly break him if anything happens to you."

Novei scoffed at this. "I sincerely doubt that any of the vampires we have encountered could seriously harm me."

"Zsasha can and he will," Xin said. "As soon as Cyca or Lior are dead, he will do his level best to kill whoever ended their lives. And his best is enough to threaten even Ghune."

"Let him be the fool," Novei muttered. "He can die like all other beings."

"Vampires are far harder to kill than most," Xin corrected her. "Just remember that. I'm not saying you're incapable, only that you must be aware and on your guard."

Novei snorted at him, then turned away. "You as well. He cannot stand to lose you or Sothan again. He is a strong yet fragile man."

"I will never leave him again," Xin answered firmly. "Sothan would never dream of it, either. We will remain by his side no matter what. That's what families do."

"We agree, then." Novei left the matter at that and walked off, knowing well that her emotions would soon begin to rub off on Xin if she wasn't careful.

Once she was gone, Xin bared his fangs at nothing in particular and let out a soft hiss. Damn you, Cyca… I'll ensure you pay for all of this. You and both of your friends.

~保護者~

The situation had already been stressful, but sensing whatever had been happened with Shadow had peaked his anxiety. Toru had returned to Mobius immediately to check on him. Discovering that it was just him finally needing to feed was a relief, but there was still the matter of the unusual aura nearby that had drawn Toru's attention here in the first place.

He tried to not think too deeply on the matter, but here he was, typing a message up on his communicator and sending it to Tails and Wery. He detailed the situation that had occurred, as well as informing them of the situation with Satsuno. Toru didn't think he would find help in time, not alone.

Tails's response was rather immediate, just as it was when Shadow himself texted him. "You should come by real quick. It's faster than texting and Wery and I might be able to help better in person."

Toru took a deep breath and teleported. He appeared in the workshop, as he often did, looking for the two foxes. It took not two seconds for Tails to spot him and wave him over with rapid gestures of his hand. The chameleon teleported once more, not wanting to waste any more time. Once he was there, Tails spoke. "Can you try to explain again what's going on?" he asked while glancing around to see where Wery was. She was nearby, thankfully "It was all kinda rushed and didn't completely make sense."

Toru sighed a little and nodded. "From my knowledge, Satsuno is a conduit for spirits. They can speak to him and take over his body. A powerful demon escaped the Realms of Death and took control of his body."

Despite not understanding this much, aside from the bit about Satsuno being able to interact with the dead like he himself had briefly explained to them, Wery frowned visibly. "How can we remove that spirit from him?" Tails waited in silence, equal parts stunned by this news and fearful for the pair's newest personal friend. He truly hoped that there was a way to save the man.

The chameleon took a few seconds to try and come up with an explanation that made sense. "His wife, Seiko, seems to have a magic that could remove the spirit, but this demon is too strong for us to face alone. I went to look for help from an ally who can also help, but I can't find her."

Feeling alarmed, Tails picked up his communicator off of a table beside them. "I can try to track her down by looking for her specific energy signature, since I have a feeling I know exactly what magic you're talking about." He quickly got to work on his device. "Were you able to find more help?"

"I'm not sure who else can help," Toru admitted. "We need someone strong enough to fight that God of Demons."

Tails froze, eyes wide with horror. "You… You mean… Amnikaribah?" he practically whispered.

"Yeah," Toru replied, blinking once. "Forgot his name."

"This is bad," Tails moaned. Then he explained for Toru's benefit since there was no way he knew, "That's the same demon who corrupted Kaden. He's the one who tried to ruin Kaden, Sonic, and Shadow's lives."

"Oh, then he needs to die." Toru replied, frowning in thought. "...Again? How the hell do you kill a spirit?"

"I think all you can do is banish them or… something," Tails shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure." Wery was (as usual) out of her element enough to be stunned. She needed more time to process all of this. It wound up being fine, though, for no comment from her was needed. Tails managed to finish his task and held up his communicator screen for Toru to see. There was a map with a small blip on it. "That's where she is, near as I can figure."

The chameleon nodded. "Alright, thank you."

Wery finally piped up, finding something she could help with after typing on a computer for a second. "I sent it over to your communicator. It should actively track her."

Toru blinked, nodding once more. "Got it. Any idea who I should contact for help?"

"Not… really," Tails had to admit, lowering his arm. "I don't have a clue. Wery, do you have any ideas?"

Wery shrugged. "I mean, we know that there's people like Rose and Analia? Maybe one of them, at least to help with fighting Amnikaribah?"

"I dunno that Analia is up to it, but we can ask," Tails agreed. "I'm not sure how to contact Rose, though. She has that communicator and all, but she doesn't seem to use it much."

"I'll send her a message," Wery said, beginning to type again. "There's also Sein and Alana."

"I think they're trying to stay with Jet," Tails mused. "He got pretty beat up during the raid, and I heard that he lost… almost all of his kids when Nareish went on that killing spree." He sighed and also began typing. "I'll at least send Alana a message. Sein's usually the one who stays with Jet when he needs a parent around." Though I'm pretty sure that's normal for Babylonians.

Toru frowned a little, but ultimately didn't say much. Wery, however, was much more visibly disturbed. "Hey, uh… what about Wave?" Wery asked softly.

Tails tapped his foot rapidly much like Sonic would have. "She might be busy, but it's worth it to give her a call. I'll handle that." He looked at Toru. "So you're aware, Jet is that insanely powerful Immortal Babylonian who helped trap Kaden a while back. Sein and Alana were those other two Immortals that day, and Wave is his girlfriend and a powerful magic user. I'm thinking that if we can get at least Rose and Wave, that'll be enough. But what do you think?" Maybe one of them can help figure out what was up with that mysterious aura he mentioned in his text, too.

"I trust your judgement," Toru said with a soft shrug. "I'm gonna go find Seiko and figure this shit out. Also, can you both keep an eye on Shadow in my stead?" He frowned, crossing his arms. "I'm sure this is gonna be very involved and I worry he may need some help."

"I was planning on it," Tails was quick to promise. "I'm gonna get Sonic and the others on it, too. That way, even if one person gets busy, there will be others who can keep an eye on things and get to him if he needs anything."

Wery looked to Toru with a smile. "We'll get everything handled." Willing to trust these two, the onyx chameleon nodded and teleported away. Once he was gone, Wery let her worry appear on her face again, obviously concerned. "So, Satsuno is… under the control of some ancient demon spirit?"

Gulping a little, Tails nodded. "Yeah… that's what it sounds like. I didn't even know that could happen… though it makes sense why he wouldn't want to tell us about that sort of thing."

The female fox gave a little sigh. "I mean, yeah… but this is still weird."

"I just hope he gets the help he needs," Tails mumbled. "I'd hate for anything to happen to him because of this mess. And Seiko… she's strong, but she's gotta be scared."

Wery nodded. "I'm sure she's wearing on a brave face. I mean, she and Satsuno ruled an ancient civilization."

"Yeah, 'course." Tails relinquished his own sigh. "Like I said, hopefully he winds up being okay."

That was something Wery could easily agree to, nodding again. "Yeah. And for now… I suppose it's best if we both just focus on helping where we can."

"Let's get started, then," Tails said with a wan smile. "I'll work on contacting Alana first, then I'll try reaching Analia. Maybe we can meet up in the kitchen and get some lunch when we're done?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Wery agreed easily. "I'll get Wave's attention on this, too." Reaching out, Tails tugged her into a quick one-armed hug, then flashed her a more genuine smile before scurrying off to handle his part of the task at hand. He couldn't stand dallying on this. While this all made her happy, she still didn't quite have the energy to smile like she normally did. She was still tired, upset, and wanted her friend back… but dwelling on that for too long wasn't going to help. Yeah, I should probably get focused, too.

~保護者~

It was with a grin that Cyca appeared at the forge and unleashed a spell. Vampiric illusions filled the minds of the three Therians she sensed inside. Thus rendered useless, they wouldn't prove to be any sort of threat whatsoever. She was careful not to let her efforts carry a scent, too, so that Akol wouldn't be immediately alerted. Now all she had to do was wait for Lior to show up. Oh, and try to determine the answer to a very important question she now had. Is that rune magic I smell?

Curiosity got the better of her. In the end, she decided not to wait. She snuck up to the front door and breathed in again. Hm. My nose was indeed not lying. The smell is permeating the building to the point where I cannot tell where any of it is actually coming from. That is troublesome. Her grin returned. Oh, well. Time to act. I will leave Ghune to Lior. Hopefully he will not drag his feet and arrive late to the party.

Having her power boosted by Nareish when she'd been revived proved to be useful. She trapped Akol in a spell that overwhelmed his senses with agony without actually wounding him. Of course, she knew he would escape without too much delay, but she had free reign for the moment. After erecting a barrier around herself, she pulled open the front door and strode inside. Explosions met her just about every step of the way, but her barrier managed to hold just long enough for her to get through. Any remaining explosive runes left behind after that were Lior's problem. Though, she did decide to do him (and herself, in truth) one favor by using a different kind of barrier to trap the former God of the Forge in the room he was in.

Now she could focus on her current prey. Sauntering into the room where he was, she idly pushed the young Therian woman (her spying had revealed her name to be Novei) over and out of her way. So deep were the illusions that the other woman couldn't even notice, much less react. Cyca made sure to change her smirk, along with her aura, to something much more inviting and alluring as she approached the wolf. His name was Li, unless she was mistaken. "Hello again, sweetness. It is so good to see you again." She prowled closer, intent on cornering him. "Was that your girlfriend? Worry not, for I have no intention of hurting her. Only your father and who I believe to be your uncle. And you are going to assist me."

The wolf turned to her and bared his teeth, teleporting his hammer into his hand. "You get the fuck out of my home, and don't ever touch her again!" he bit out, already stepping into the swing of his weapon.

Cyca ducked out of the way with a chuckle. "I am afraid that you are a bit slow, love. Strong, certainly, but not at all quick enough." Not content to just verbally toy with him, she lunged forward and gave his throat a bite. She didn't feed off of him, though her fangs fully punctured his skin, and instead released him instantly. This was what she'd always deemed a "love bite", which often helped to sway her target. She made sure to close the wound with magic immediately, since it wasn't her intention to truly injure him.

Li leapt back as quickly as he could once he was released, raising a hand to the bite on his neck. "What did you just do?" he demanded.

"Nothing you need to worry yourself over," Cyca answered in a singsong voice. Now she was utilizing the power known as "siren song"... which, of course, did exactly what its name suggested.

The wolf found himself panting as his heart rate quickened. Something was wrong, that much he knew, but for the life of him he couldn't recognize what it was. "Y-you have to leave."

"Come now, is that truly what you want?" Cyca teased, not letting up at all. "Set down your weapon and stop resisting. It will be so much easier for you."

The hammer suddenly felt heavy in his hands. Soon it thudded against the floor loudly as he took several steps back. He ended up falling back and into a sitting position, eyes wide and panicked. "S-stop… please…"

"But that would not make me very happy," Cyca answered with a pout. "Do you not want me to be happy? I thought we were beginning to get along."

A tear slipped from one of his eyes, but he wasn't… sure why. It didn't really make sense. He also didn't understand why he felt so shaky. "I… I'm… sorry…"

His eyes were taking on that dazed, glassy look that Cyca had grown so used to seeing throughout her life. Nearly there. "No need for apologies, dear. Now get up, will you? We have a couple things to do before I depart."

It took him several seconds to get back to his feet, recovering from the shock his body had just been through. "What do we need to do?"

"I will tell you in just a moment," Cyca answered as she mentally worked through her plan one last time. Once satisfied, she continued. "That other wolf is indeed your uncle, yes? Worry not, I will not have you hurt him, though I will ask you to do something."

Li blinked at her and frowned a bit. "What do you need me to do?" he repeated in a gentle voice.

"I have him locked within another room," Cyca explained. "I believe it to be the forge itself, though I did not look. Once I am ready, we will go in there. You are simply going to help hold him still, since your level of strength is so similar to his own."

The wolf went to speak, then his attention turned as one of the couches was overturned. Lior stood there, holding Ghune up by the neck as she struggled to pry his hand away. Seeing this caused Cyca to laugh openly, amused to no end by their mutual enemy's predicament. "H-hey… she's… she's not a bad person." Li didn't want to question her, finding himself shying away more and more as he spoke. "I… Why is he hurting her…?"

Recognizing the incredible gentility in this man, Cyca opted not to use scolding as a response. "Because it makes my friend and, more importantly, me happy," she answered, smiling sweetly. "That makes it alright, does it not?"

"O-oh…" Li didn't question this further, simply nodding in reply. It made sense, he supposed. If it made her happy… "Okay."

Cyca turned to Lior. "This one is on our side for the moment," she reported. "Think you can prevent the so-called queen from interfering?"

With Ghune weakened, Lior felt confident in holding her in place. "After I make use of some of the weapons present, I doubt she will interfere with much for a while."

"Make it quick, will you?" Cyca answered. "We still have a meal to secure, and I am quite ravenous."

"Just shut up and go. This is personal," Lior muttered, tossing Ghune aside as if she were a piece of garbage to be discarded. "If I don't feed from him, don't bother me. I'm making sure she doesn't get back up for quite some time."

"At least feed after that, then," Cyca remarked flippantly. "You will do us no good if you starve to death." With that said, she strode out of the room. She trusted Li would follow without being told to. He did so immediately.

Lior clicked his tongue and made one of the many blades in the room appear in his hand, pressing Ghune to the wall with his foot. "You're a scourge on this existence, Ghune, you know that?" She opened her mouth to speak, only to be silenced by the flat of the blade smacking her on the temple. "I once viewed you as someone to look up to, a role model, but you proved you're as weak as those you called your people."

Ghune opened her mouth again, waiting for the blow that didn't come. A few seconds later, she replied. "Your mind… It's twisted. Your thoughts are tainted with your own dark memories." She fought to keep consciousness when he kicked her in the forehead, coughing from the impact.

"Bold of you, of all people, to say something like that." Lior leaned in close, putting extra weight on her shoulder as her bones creaked. "You… you were once a beast to be terrified of, a creature that could not be tamed. Then… you met that fucking Babylonian. Ryint ruined you, turned you into a 'good person'. You're weak, and I think that you've finally found your place. I'm going to make you watch everything fall around you, helpless to fix a damn thing." A sick, twisted smile broke onto his face, the vaguest feeling of amusement creeping through his body. "You're going to watch everyone you care about die and fade away, and I'll make sure you have to live with that pain for eternity."

In the heart of the forge, Li winced as he heard Ghune's scream of agony, shivering at the sound. The wolf looked over at Cyca, as if to seek… some sort of comfort in the wake of that. Cyca responded by "lovingly" squeezing his hand. "Do your best to ignore it. It will end soon. We have business in that other room, anyway." She resumed walking. Li was silent. Even though it made her happy, he didn't like hearing that sound. It wasn't enough to dissuade him, of course. He simply followed in line slightly behind Cyca.

Once they reached the room, Cyca pulled the door open before tugging Li through her barrier with her. Before Sothan could have potentially done anything, he was slammed into a wall with magic hard enough to leave him momentarily off-balance and stunned. "Li, be a dear and hold him still, will you?" Cyca asked him. "Do it from behind, though. That makes it easier for me."

Li did as was asked of him, wrapping his arms around his uncle's arms and torso firmly and holding the man in place. "Like this…?"

"Perfect," Cyca praised even as Sothan wordlessly struggled. "Do you believe you have him securely? I would rather not be wounded if he gets loose."

"I think so…" The words out of his mouth sounded unsure, the questioning immediately making him a bit more paranoid and uneasy.

Cyca knew she didn't have a lot of time to spare. Akol would be freeing himself shortly, she could feel it. And doing this was, as she'd expected, weakening her hold on Li. Not wasting a second, she used her magic to help further hold Sothan still before lunging and sinking her fangs in. Her bite instantly paralyzed her victim, so she released her magic to spare her strength.

Thanks to the anticoagulants in most vampire's saliva (hers included), blood flowed easily and without significant effort on her part. She drank greedily and as fast as possible. Within seconds, Sothan's pulse started to become irregular and his breathing grew shallower and more rapid. Despite the paralysis, he began to sag in Li's hold. More seconds passed and he started to go completely limp.

By the time she released him, he'd gone into severe hypovolemic shock from the sheer amount of blood she'd drank. He was weak and cold to the touch. His breathing was even shallower than before, and his body's desperation for air kept him inhaling as quickly as possible to compensate. He'd developed acute tachycardia, with his pulse racing frantically to an erratic beat. The man seemed dizzy, lightheaded, disoriented, and faint. About ready to lose consciousness, in fact. If not for Li's hold, he wouldn't have been upright at all.

Yet even now Cyca sensed no fear. The spark of defiance lingering within him excited her. Grinning toothily as his fiery orange eyes fluttered shut, she turned her attention away from his pitiful condition so as to address Li. "You can release him now, love. I have had my fill." Let us see if he is as strong as he seems. Surviving this will be no easy feat. I will be endlessly entertained if he dies and sends dear Akol into a frenzy, but it would be quite interesting for him to live as well. If nothing else, I will have an easy meal going forward.

Li started to release his uncle but was careful, making sure that the man didn't fall over as soon as he let go. When he realized that Sothan probably couldn't do so on his own, he was careful to lay him down on the ground. He knelt beside him with obvious concern. Cyca observed this with disinterest before noticing something that did interest her. Namely, the earring dangling from Sothan's right ear - a piece of jewelry that was the same exact color as his eyes. She'd heard about the former God's earring before and knew of its significance. If the old stories were true, he and his blood sister had each come into existence with one, making these objects precious to them. That was reason enough to take it. "Hm… one final thing, Li. Remove that earring and hand it here, please."

The young wolf was careful, slowly taking the earring off of Sothan and handing it over to Cyca without hesitation. Once she had it in her possession, Cyca teleported it away somewhere. "Very good. You can stay there for the moment if you wish. I will be right back." Turning on her heel, Cyca walked back out of the room and poked her head into the previous one to see if Lior was done yet.

Lior was staring quietly at his handiwork. He'd left Ghune pinned to the wall with three swords embedded in the stone of the building through her body. He noticed Cyca's arrival and turned, crossing his arms. "I assume you are finished now."

"Likewise," Cyca replied, eyes roving over Ghune's prone form. "That former god is quite the powerhouse. Feeding off of him was immensely pleasurable, I must admit. This is the last time I will offer to share, so you know."

The man huffed and crossed the room, glancing over the Therians briefly. "There are three…" He noted quietly, approaching Cyca. "Who is the young one? I recognize Tempest and Calypso."

Cyca looked at the woman in question. "I discovered her name is Novei. She appears to be related to the other two. One of their daughters if I had to guess."

"Hm." Lior walked past her and on to the forge, where he saw the current God of the Forge kneeling by the former. But it was the former one who was holding his attention, of course. The man seemed just conscious enough to still be aware of the things he was feeling on a sensory level to some degree. That meant he would feel this second feeding as well. "An interesting situation you have placed them in…"

"Indeed," Cyca chuckled when she walked in behind him. "It will only get more interesting once we leave, I am sure. Pity I will not be able to watch, but such is life."

Lior walked over and shoved Li aside, pulling Sothan up by his hair and biting on the opposite side of the man's neck. He didn't have to bite to eat, seeing as how he could just feed off of the energy of Sothan's powers from a distance, but it made the process easier in his opinion. Mm… he lacks the powers with truly good taste… but he has an abundance of strength to feed from.

The wound he created didn't bleed profusely like Cyca's when he pulled back after getting his fill and dropping their victim. By this time, Sothan was unconscious. Lior glanced over at Li with a cold gaze and uttered a few simple words. "When you come to, understand that this is your future. You will be incapable of resisting her… and aid will not come." He turned and walked out of the room as Li simply sat there, breathing faster than before.

Cyca put her hands on her hips. "Well, this will certainly piss Akol right off. I will mess with him more directly next time. For now, we should go." She glanced back at Sothan. "Though, I may come back and take him before I next bother Akol. If you do not want to use him as a meal source as well, then find your own prey. I will not hunt for you if you do not want to use this one."

"His powers do not taste good."

"Then you will need to acquire your own food." Cyca stretched. "Alright, time to take our leave. Enjoy the next few hours or more of suffering ahead of you, Li." With that, he was released and she vanished. Lior glanced back and watched as that glassy look ever so slowly began to fade from Li's eyes. That smile crept its way back onto his face at the sight before he too vanished. At about the same time, Xin finally broke loose from the spell he'd been trapped in while the Therians were freed from the illusions that had held them hostage. Xin remained where he was for the moment, trying to recuperate from the pain before he dared make an effort to move.

Novei clambered up onto her feet from where she'd been knocked over, bolting off toward Li. From here, she could feel the panic and emotional agony he was in. As soon as she arrived in the room, her arms wrapped around him instinctively and she held him close, trying to keep his panic from developing further than it had. A few moments later, Xin recovered enough to get to his feet and quickly limp toward the pair. As he did so, he used his magic to remove the swords from Ghune and start healing her as rapidly as possible. Seeing his son, however, caused all the rest of his attention to focus solely on Li. Damn… He isn't doing well… One look at Sothan immediately explained why.

Li cried into Novei's shoulder, clinging onto her as if his life depended on it. She didn't know what to do past this point, either, simply listening to his sobs. There was a time to be angry about what happened, but she couldn't bring herself to feel it now. Not while he was so shaken. "Calm yourself, Li…"

Xin entrusted his son's care to Novei, seeing as how Li was putting his own trust into the woman in his vulnerable state. It hurt to see Li in so much pain, but Xin didn't want to get in between them. He focused on quickly going over to Sothan and kneeling down beside him. The wounds Cyca and Lior had left behind were easy enough to close… but that was all he could do. No vampire could heal the effects of another vampire's feeding. No healing powers in general could, so far as he was aware… though he prayed he was wrong.

There was nothing more he could do, and that scared him to his core. This was the same sort of condition he himself had been left in when he'd been dragged off, fed on, and eventually turned. He'd come perilously close to death before he'd fully turned and gained vampiric regenerative abilities. The difference here was that Sothan (thankfully) wasn't also being turned. He was just… dying.

It wasn't long before Tempest was in the doorway, looking over the scene. "Oh… fuck." she muttered, walking over toward Sothan and looking him over. "Shock…?"

"Hypovolemic shock," Xin corrected. He was still pouring magical healing energies into Ghune in an effort to save her life while desperately trying to figure out what the hell he could do for his family. "He's been nearly drained of blood. His heart is trying to give out and he can barely breathe."

Tempest stayed where she was for a moment before getting up and walking back into the room with Calypso and Ghune. She lifted the injured vampire off of the ground and forcefully sealed the woman's wounds with her own magic. "You. Do something. Sothan is dying." As she spoke, Calypso picked herself up off the ground and looked around in open confusion.

Ghune cried out in pain as her wounds practically knitted themselves back together, but she was on her feet seconds later when Tempest set her down. She was unsteady, so she chose to basically fly to the other room before dropping into a kneeling stance beside the downed wolf. "Shit. Cyca clearly took her fill…"

It was only with great effort that Xin was preventing himself from panicking like Li was. "Yes," he muttered. "Lior bit him, too. He had wounds on both sides of his neck."

"I'll take him to New Babylon," Ghune said gently, looking up to Xin as if asking for permission. "They can stabilize him, if nothing else. Their medicinal knowledge is far beyond ours."

Xin nodded shakily. "He has to go. I will not let him die." Turning to Novei, he asked, "Can you keep working to calm Li down? I want to take Sothan with her, but I will be quick." I refuse to leave either of them alone.

"He will be asleep soon," Novei replied simply.

"Alright." Xin turned to Sothan and put a hand on the man's shoulder to make his job easier, then teleported himself, his brother-in-law, and Ghune all to New Babylon.

The moment they appeared, Alana got to her feet on pure reflex. She was confused at first by the scene before her… until she realized that she recognized the unconscious person on the ground. She had spent many long hours with Sothan in the forge as a child while Sein and Li had been off playing, learning anything and everything about weapons and smithing from him in the process. In the end, she'd bonded with him so deeply that she had come to see him as her own uncle. Seeing him in such obvious distress sent a lightning bolt of fear through her and she immediately turned to Sein to get his attention. "Sein, get up," she urged. They had been resting by their son's bed with the rest of the family when Jet had wound up staying asleep earlier, but now she needed her husband awake.

Sein didn't have time to think between waking up and being on his feet beside Sothan. Without hesitation, he carefully picked up the man he had looked up to as a child. While he had spent much of his time with Li, Sothan had always been like an uncle to him as well. Sothan had such a good heart and aura that Sein was naturally drawn to him. "What happened to him?" he demanded gently, looking between Ghune and Xin.

The man they had recently come to know as "Akol" looked startled by their presence, as well as that of Kath and Laralei (who were waking up due to the commotion), but he nonetheless answered the question. "Vampire attack," he explained again. "He was nearly drained."

Now it was Alana's turn to be startled all over again. Despite the different outfit, the differently colored eyes, the change in aura… she realized she knew this man's voice. Li's… Li's father? Stunned by the return of these two men, both of whom she'd known to be dead (hadn't they?), she hurried off to fetch the medics. Her mind kept running as she did so. His aura, eyes, and clothes are all different… because he is a vampire now. Sein and I were also far more focused on Jet at the time when Ghune brought Xin here. That must be why we did not recognize him at the time. Did he have vampiric amnesia at the time? It would explain why he also did not recognize us. Whatever the cause, based on his reaction to seeing us just now it would seem he hadn't thought about it since reuniting with Li… understandably.

Her husband decided to address this another time, seeing as how he had a dying man in his arms. He instead poured some of his healing energy into Sothan. "Alana, get the doctors," he quickly said, clutching onto Sothan just a bit tighter.

Since Alana had already done so, he got no immediate reply. She soon returned with several doctors in tow, who promptly took Sothan from him and got him on a bed. As they crowded around him and began their work, Alana walked back to Sein. "We need to try and heal him," she murmured. "But we will not be fast enough if they cannot stabilize his condition."

Sein had already begun doing so, and as such didn't reply much like she hadn't before. He focused himself more fully on healing Sothan. The sound of a defibrillator made Alana jump and brought her out of her fears enough for her to stop wasting time and start helping - especially when she saw that he was starting to go into cardiac arrest. One of the doctors used the machine again and, much to her immense relief, their efforts alongside hers and Sein's soon managed to get Sothan's heartbeat under control. That meant they had bought him some precious time. Sein allowed himself just a moment to take a deep breath, then immediately resumed his focus. I'm not letting you die. I grew up with you by our side… I can't lose you.

It took effort, but Alana eventually began to see other signs of improvement. While she and Sein had never been much in the way of healers, they had successfully begun making it easier for Sothan to breathe. Enough blood had been regenerated within him by now that things were starting to function properly again. Thank the Faein… He is going to make it.

Sein turned his attention over to Alana, managing a small smile. "I'm glad we were able to do this much…"

Alana nodded. "Yes… But he is not fully out of the woods yet. We must continue." Out of the corner of her eyes, she observed Xin silently watching the unfolding scene. For the most part he seemed collected, but she could see the lingering fear in his eyes. It made her own heart hurt. Such a kind and loving family did not deserve to suffer an assault like this.

A few things clicked in Sein's head and he looked up, eyes wide with concern. "Is Li okay?" he immediately asked Xin.

Xin was silent for a moment before shaking his head and saying softly, "Novei is with him, helping him go to sleep, but…" He paused for a second, wringing his hands together to vent some of his emotions before continuing. "He's going to need you when he wakes up."

Sein looked to Alana. "When we have this situation handled, I'm going to Li. You should stay with Jet and be here when he wakes up."

She hesitated to agree, if only because she knew Jet was likely going to want his dad. But in the end, she didn't argue. "I will. Make sure he is alright, Sein."

"Thank you," he said in a soft tone, refocusing his attention on Sothan.

As they finished their work, Xin turned to Ghune and addressed her in undertone. He hadn't had time to think about it prior to this moment, but now the full gravity of what had happened hit him. Feeling pale under his black fur, he mumbled, "Cyca had me trapped in a spell. Before I escaped-" He paused, but only for a second. "Ghune… she sang to him." She of all people would understand the gravity of this situation, and he knew it. That was why he told her and not Sein.

Ghune took a long, deep breath. That was bad. "She saw fit to cause as many problems as possible…" Xin nodded once, stiffly.

Alana interrupted them before anything else could be said. "Sothan is alright now," she said. She fully retracted her healing energies from the man in question. "I assume he will wake soon."

Xin's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice subtly shaking. "Thank you both."

It was that moment in which Laralei decided to walk over. "You remain troubled over his condition, old friend," she deduced. "What else is the matter?"

Xin hesitated, but in the face of the concern he was seeing from what was essentially his second family… he relented. "The vampire who bit him," he said, "has addictive bites. It's a way to keep prey obedient, willing, and easy. Hell, even eager. A vampire can't control whether or not their bites are addictive anymore than they can control how they have to feed to survive… but they certainly can choose to work the situation to their advantage. She's precisely the sort to do that. But even if she wasn't…" He let his sentence trail off. It didn't need to be stated aloud just how bad this could be. Every individual was different in terms of how deeply they were impacted, just the same as with other addictions, but even so… The risk of this being horrible was there, and frankly it was high.

It didn't take long for something to dawn on Sein. His eyes widened. "Was he the only person affected by this?" Alana, meanwhile, stood there stock still in alarm.

"He was the only one bitten," Xin said. After all, Li, Novei, and the others had had no marks or blood on them. Li also hadn't said anything to anyone. Xin had to assume that that meant he was fine… even if only physically so.

That soothed Sein somewhat, knowing that his best friend wasn't going to have to suffer through what Xin had just explained. "Good. Maybe with some care, Sothan can overcome this in due time."

Xin nodded slowly and further explained, "The good thing about addictive vampire bites is that once the victims manage to get past the withdrawals, they're alright again. It's as though they never had an addiction to begin with. Once he overcomes this, he'll be just as fine as he was before being bitten."

Sein nodded in return, letting out a bit of a sigh. "Good, good. In that case, we should prioritize making sure that Sothan is watched over as well as ensuring that the emotional turmoil isn't too bad for Li."

"Yes." Xin gave Sothan's sleeping form a long look, then said, "I told Novei I would not be gone long. I must go check on Li again. Someone please contact me when Sothan wakes up if he does so before I return."

"You can bet I will," Sein replied. "I plan to come by soon, as well. Give you a chance to rest some with all of this happening." Xin murmured some form of thanks and vanished in a rush of shadows. He unintentionally left Ghune behind when he did so, but that wasn't on his mind. Only his son was now that Sothan was temporarily secured.

Alana turned to Sein. "Are you not going to see Li now as well?" she asked. "You had only just got done asking me to stay with Jet so you could."

Sein shook his head. "I think we both need to be here for a bit. Something… I think I sense Eila." That was the best way he knew to explain it, at least initially. "If she comes here, Jet may need us. Both of us."

Instantly, Alana understood. "I see," she murmured, a touch troubled, as she looked over at their son. "Let us go sit with him, then. If she does indeed arrive, I do not wish for him to awaken in a panic because he cannot sense us as easily. He may well hyperfixate on her aura instead."

"Definitely." Sein turned to Ghune, noticing that she was staring almost blankly at Sothan. He frowned in thought, then walked a bit closer to the woman and softly nudged her with an elbow. "Hey, if you're blaming yourself for everything that happened, you should stop. You've obviously been through a great deal, and being unfair to yourself is going to make your life a lot worse."

Ghune didn't reply to that for a few seconds, long enough that Sein almost continued speaking. She cut him off before he could, though. "I failed in many things recently, but I cannot afford to keep failing. Cyca, Lior, Zsasha… They all must die before this grows more out of hand. They will become more emboldened with each success, and their horizons will expand."

Sein sighed a bit and set a hand on his hip. "And what are you going to do about it when you're staring at someone that you think is hurt because of you?" the hawk pointed out. "You're going to get wrapped up in emotions. You should go sit with Xin and talk to him if you're really gonna blame yourself. I have a feeling he's going to tell you that you're not acting like yourself right now. Even I can tell, and we barely know each other."

She didn't have a response to that, so Sein simply left her be for now with a gentle pat on the shoulder, turning to go join his wife, son, and other family. The vampire's frown twisted into something a bit more furious, but she couldn't maintain the emotion. Not with her current exhaustion. He has a point… Ghune accepted that thought after some deliberation, shaking her head in dismay. This situation was a mess, and it was certainly going to get worse before it could get better. I should talk to Xin… at least briefly. We need a plan. I will not allow his family to be harmed further. The vampire teleported away immediately, deciding that it was past time to do so.

She couldn't afford to dally.

~保護者~

A couple minutes after Jet woke up, the grogginess and momentary confusion both lifted. His memories all settled into place. When he sat up, he was immediately asked if he was alright, if he was hurt anywhere, that sort of thing. He didn't pay attention to who asked which question, nor did he focus on what he himself said in reply. Right now, he was more focused on more internal details.

All of his emotions were… calm, somehow. That struck him as not being possible, considering what he logically knew he should be feeling. But then he recalled the particular way that the Aether had intervened in things right before it had apparently put him to sleep. It had filled him with its energies. That had been painful. Probably in the same way that Light was painful for Darkness and vice versa. But there was no pain now, because that was what the Aether did as an energy. It healed, it repaired, it protected… and, apparently, it could do the same to emotions. The lingering calmness was likely just an unforeseen side-effect.

His mother's voice broke into his thoughts. "Are you sure you are alright, my son?"

Jet blinked and looked over, this time actually seeing her since he'd refocused on the world around him. "I'm alright," he confirmed quietly. "At least for now." One thing was clear to him, though. This won't last. I need to try and prepare for that eventuality.

Sein watched Jet for several seconds, then nodded slowly. "I'm glad to see you up again, but please be careful and don't push yourself too hard. A lot has happened recently."

"Try to relax as much as you can," Alana agreed. "The Aether's energies appear to be helping for now, but I do not want you to do too much now because of that and wind up regretting it later." For the moment, Laralei and Kath just looked on, letting Jet's parents do their thing.

In response, Jet inclined his head. "I know."

Arkiri was standing a few extra feet back from the rest of the group. Jet wasn't immediate family, at least not in a direct way (he may as well be, being Kath's grandson). He cared for the man, regardless, but he did not desire to crowd Jet's senses as soon as he woke. "It's good to see you up, though. Do you need anything? I know little about the needs for sustenance of Immortals, admittedly."

Jet turned his head to look at this stranger for a second, then shook his head. "No. I'm alright."

The owl nodded with a soft smile. "Understood. In that case, I will leave you with your family." He turned and stepped away, walking toward Sothan.

Laralei decided to speak up. "I believe we can take the time for proper introductions between us later on," she smiled. "Kath and I will go sit with Arkiri for now. Sein, Alana, you may want to inform him of what's coming before it actually happens, no matter how calm he's being made to be right now." She took hold of her best friend's wrist and tugged him away.

Taking a deep breath, Sein calmed his tone as much as possible to not even chance spiking Jet's anxiety more than it might otherwise. "I'm pretty sure that Eila is coming here. She's hesitating, and she actually made her presence known to me. I think she's worried about upsetting you."

All things considered, Jet supposed that now was by far the best time for Eila to do… whatever it was she wanted to do. It was entirely likely that he would regret this later, but for now he simply rolled with this turn of events in a logical manner. "She can come."

Sein, being ever cautious of his son's well-being, asked, "You're sure? Nobody is forcing you to."

"I know that," Jet assured him. "This is the best opportunity she'll have to say whatever she wants to say. I don't know that I can handle it later."

"I'll let her know she can approach, then," Sein said gently, flaring his aura gently in the cat's direction.

There were several seconds where they waited, almost as if she was hesitating. She did appear, though, landing about a dozen feet from the three hawks. "A-" She cut herself off, trying to reign in her train of thought. "Sorry for… suddenly appearing."

"You don't need to apologize," Alana answered, her voice calm and patient. "What did you need?" She kept a careful watch over her son, but for now she saw no signs of distress.

Eila nodded slowly. "I have a number of things to explain to Jet, and by extension, both of you. She paused for a moment, as if hesitating again.

Sein sensed her nerves and nodded his head to her gently. "Please, continue. You can talk to us. We're listening."

With this brief encouragement, Eila continued on. "First of all, my recent exploits. I sought out and killed the Nocturne Clan, including Ix and Shade, as well as the Metarex. I also returned Kohaku's mental state to something resembling his normal self. I… cannot ascertain if there were any effects of my actions that changed him. He can defend himself once more." She fell quiet for a moment, waiting to see if any of the people present had something to say.

Jet took this in for a long moment. It was good to hear about Kohaku, truly. And those threats being taken care of… though he didn't quite like the idea of her taking them out single handedly. But it wasn't his place to say so, and so he didn't. "The Clan will not be fully destroyed so long as Kethro lives," he said carefully, not looking at her. "However, I cannot advise you to attempt facing him alone. He is joined with Malevolence now."

"I plan to," Eila admitted softly, keeping her gaze away from him as well. She instead focused on Alana. Something about the woman's presence was… relaxing. "That aside, I spoke to the Faein and had Kathros revived. The recently born baby Immortal had the role taken away to make room for him. I have been trying to monitor him, but I fear my lack of true empathy toward people or simply feeling and handling emotions will render me incapable of helping him alone."

Alana tossed Sein a worried look. They'd heard all about this man from the Kaden of their native timeline. "Why… would you revive someone like that?" she asked, making sure to keep her aura and voice level.

Eila took a long, deep breath. Please understand. "I firmly believe Kathros is not an evil man. I briefly… read a few of his memories when I ventured into the Realms of Death on a journey to seek out Saran's family. From what little glimpses I could find, I saw the remnants of Nareish's influence. I understand if you do not believe me or trust me, but I… " Her voice fell a little quieter unintentionally, eyes shifting to focus on a point on the ground. "Please, believe me. The Faein do."

"I do trust you," Alana was quick to soothe. She was surprised by how immediately and truthfully the words rose up from within her, considering her reservations toward this woman not so long ago. "But you must understand, this is not someone who was corrupted. He did not lose his free will or ability to think for himself. Nareish may have spun webs as she always does, but ultimately he chose to follow her orders." Jet was utterly silent, just frowning in thought.

Sein looked at Eila quietly for several seconds. "You don't believe that this is the whole truth, do you?"

"I can find out," Eila murmured. "Once Kethro is dead Saran is purified, I can read his memories more fully and figure it out. Though… I will say this. No matter what, I will protect him until I know the truth."

"We will not harm him," Alana decided to promise. "However, I still do not understand why you believe there is more to his story. Just what did you glimpse, Eila?"

Eila pursed her lips, a tear welling up in one of her eyes. "He was a fucking kid. She appeared in his childhood memories, Alana." Her voice held pain, something she couldn't quite conceal. "I couldn't see much, but her mere presence in his life that early… there's no way it's good."

That… That potentially changed everything. So much so that it rendered Alana temporarily speechless. What in the world…? She turned her head to look at Sein again and see if he had anything to say. Jet was clearly listening, but was spending more energy working through the information as opposed to talking about it.

Sein decided to not react to this information, instead extending his aura to Eila carefully. "Relax. That's a lot to take in, and you obviously care. As much as I can, I'm willing to trust you on that. I want you to tell us what you find out."

Finally, Jet spoke up. "There were rumors among the Immortals of his generation," he said slowly, "that his origins were untraceable. It was regarded as suspicious and eyes were turned on Nareish at the time. If what you saw was accurate and those rumors were not merely tales, then the two may be connected."

"I'll find out," Eila replied gently. "However… that is all I know at the moment. I do have a few more things to speak about, but… it is more a request for help."

Jet motioned with a hand for her to continue. "I'll do what I can. Ask."

"One…" Eila teleported Ix's staff into the room, ensuring that it specifically landed far enough away from people so that it couldn't touch anyone's skin. "Ix's staff. I briefly kept it under my own protection, but with my past… I should not keep it permanently."

This earned a huff, one that was aimed at a seemingly empty space beside Jet's bed. "Go deal with it," he told that empty space. "You are the only one it will not harm." At first, nothing appeared to happen. Then teeth marks appeared on the staff despite it being made of magic-imbued metal and it broke apart. Crunching sounds followed, and soon there was nothing left of the weapon other than shards that were promptly wiped from existence. Honestly… I don't understand why it wanted to eat the thing.

"The Void?" Eila guessed quietly, tilting her head. "Something that can… effortlessly destroy and remove things from existence?"

A normally silent voice (at least to all but Jet) answered her in such a way that only she could hear. This was because the answer was projected straight into her mind. "Yes." It was the Void itself, but it seemed to have little to say to her beyond that. Jet seemed to be aware that they were communicating, though he didn't intervene.

"I presume it to be for the best that we never became connected to one another. Your likely violent nature would have urged me further along than I could handle."

"I would never have obeyed you. He could not have used much of my power at the time, either. You would not have gained anything." There was a very slight pause. "And I would have slain you myself had you held onto him any longer."

"I speak mostly of myself as I am now, but… yes." Eila shifted, blinking slowly. "You are a peculiar energy, one that I feel I resonate with far too easily. I will leave you be, if only for my own sake." The cat looked between Sein and Alana, not wanting to make eye contact with Jet. Meanwhile, there was a soft impact on the bed as the Void apparently jumped up onto it, followed by some movements of the blankets as it turned around once and then twice before laying down. Jet huffed again at the Void's demeanor, knowing it would only last until the Aether's influence lifted. "I would like to speak with you further at another point in time." All at once, she cut off her brief mental connection with the Void, looking to Jet. "Do you remember that magic item Cyril helped me use on you before?"

That earned a third huff. "Yes," Jet answered.

"I want to use it to restore Han's memories, but I firmly believe that the power of one of you three will be necessary since it was one of Nareish's followers who stole his memories to begin with," Eila explained. "I… I want to help Wave, in whatever way I can. I greatly appreciate what she has done for me thus far."

Jet spoke before his mother could offer her own aid. "What do you need done? As I said, I will help you however I can."

Eila moved to approach, then immediately paused and simply teleported the object near Jet. "The enchantment is in place already. I believe the effect needs to be amplified to restore his memories. After that point, I will simply have him hold it and see what happens."

Using his aura, Jet lifted the object and considered this issue. "Given the sheer volume of memories he lost, this may not be able to restore everything. Not all in one go. It may require several 'treatments' for everything to be brought back." While he spoke, he applied some of his own magic to the item. It did nothing to alter hers, only strengthened what was there before.

"If that is what it takes, then I will 'treat' him as many times as it requires for his memories to return," Eila said firmly. "He has gone without them for far too long."

He agreed with that wholeheartedly. "Yes, he has." That was all he said before he carefully floated the object back over to her. Given how he knew it functioned, as per his own recent experience, he made sure not to touch her with it.

Eila encased it with her magic, nodding slowly. "Thank you. When I leave here, it will be to kill Kethro, followed by purifying Saran. If I am needed elsewhere, simply reach out to me."

"Understood," Alana said. She once more looked at her husband to see if he would comment.

Sein took a gamble, walking over to Eila and carefully wrapping an arm around her. "I am very proud of the progress you've made. Please, take care of yourself."

The cat didn't expect the hug, freezing up. His words, however, elicited a few small tears from her. "I- I will… do my best…" she murmured.

"You're doing great," Sein replied, slowly letting go of Eila and stepping back toward his family. She could use more family of her own, he mused. It seems like she's always lacked that…

She didn't have words to reply to this, so she stood there awkwardly for several seconds before just nodding. "I should… get going. Kethro is unlikely to kill himself."

"Eila, wait." Jet took a deep breath. Was he really about to say this? He'd never uttered her name before, wasn't able to even think it normally without panicking, and yet this newfound idea stubbornly persisted within him. He made sure to guard his mind from her once he realized where his thoughts were straying. Because his soon-to-be-spoken words were wholly the truth, in that there was no hatred to be found in his heart… only fear. And in a perhaps foolish effort to protect the person he had saved once already, he was determined not to so blatantly reveal the latter to her. She likely knew already. Neither of them needed the reminder.

At the end of the day, he knew this had to be done. I need to do this. For both of our sakes. Another deep breath. In and out… nice and slow. A bit of anxiety had tried to break through the Aether's energies, but it had settled again now. Finally, he was able to continue. "I don't hate you," he forced himself to reveal. "No matter what happens going forward, I need you to understand that. I hated you once, but that was… a very long time ago."

Hearing this, Eila froze. His words caused immediate pause, but that was just him using her name. Terror had briefly seized control of her, almost causing her to leave immediately. "I… I am… very sorry for everything that happened. I wanted to… prove myself to someone. My thoughts and dreams were warped. You became an object to me, and… I never want that to happen, ever again." She didn't even realize she was speaking, eyes entirely unfocused.

"I don't blame you," Jet murmured, looking further away. Alana looked on in silent shock… yet also pride. "Not anymore. I saw what happened… what you were going through. It isn't you who needs to apologize. The one who does isn't around anymore and never will be again."

Eila couldn't staunch the tears that flowed from her eyes, covering her mouth as she tried to think of something coherent to say. Nothing came to mind aside from a choked out, "Thank you," before she teleported away.

Sein turned to Jet and set a hand on his shoulder. He was feeling so much respect for his son in this moment, but he did have a question. "What did you mean when you said that she wasn't the one who needed to apologize?"

"Another personality," Jet shrugged as if that was the most normal answer in the world. "When I was purifying her, I saw… everything about her. Everything she was at that moment, everything she had been in the past, everything she might one day become… But she wasn't truly 'alone'. She had a disorder that created other sides of her, such as who we all knew as Astra. I didn't have the time to handle it then. One of the Faein seems to have done so after the fact."

Has she been accepting the blame this whole time? Sein wondered to himself. To take the actions of someone else on yourself… I really did misjudge you, Eila. "I'm proud of you, Jet. You've done something amazing today," Sein replied warmly.

It didn't feel amazing. This had been necessary, sure, but Jet knew he was probably in for a maelstrom of emotions later on as a result of what he'd done. And there was only so much preparing he could do for something like that. "I may… regret it later," he admitted softly, almost sighing.

"We will remain proud of you regardless," Alana told him, sitting down close to him and the Void. "That will not change no matter what."

"And you can always take solace in the fact that you did a good thing for her and let her have her life back," Sein said with a smile, joining Alana. "And today, you gave yourself and her a chance to heal. That's so much more impressive than anything I've ever done."

"I have also never done anything this good before, Jet," Alana had to agree, now wearing her own smile. Her expression faltered a little when she felt the Void shift and roll over, seemingly winding up on its side in between her and Sein. It genuinely seemed to be asleep, so she gave in to temptation and cautiously reached out to where she thought its head was. A few gentle strokes evoked a soft rumbling "growl" of contentment. Eyes wide, she murmured to both her son and husband, "It would seem this one has been somewhat misjudged as well. I did not think it capable of peace and innocent pleasure." Jet blinked several times, trying to process this strange behavior.

Sein chuckled a little, shaking his head in amusement. "Ah, jeez. I can't handle all of these shocking revelations."

A cheery voice popped into Jet's mind briefly, its presence easily recognized as the Aether's. "I'm also very happy for you. That was super brave. If you ever need me to help you calm down from things again, just say the word and I'll come right to you with Wave."

Its offer had genuine merit. Jet wasn't fool enough to refuse. "...Alright," he agreed after a moment. "Thank you."

"By the way, make sure you eat." The being retracted its presence, returning to simply leaving its energy with him.

Reminded of Wave and Sonic's previous pestering about him needing to get better about that same thing (and, more specifically, their concern that he was getting thin), Jet relented. Looking to his parents, he asked, "Are you wanting me to stay in bed?"

Sein nodded. "A while longer at least. The extra bit of rest will be good for you."

"It is for the best," Alana said. "You had only just begun to reach the point of fully recovering from the raid before you took off. Resting more is in your own best interest. Why were you wanting to get up, anyway?"

Jet's shoulders lifted in another shrug. "The Aether thinks I should eat."

"I think we can make an exception if you're gonna eat," Sein pointed out easily, looking to Alana. "I've gotta go shortly, but it would be nice to eat as a family."

His wife warmed to the idea instantly. She had always loved family meals. "Yes, let's do that. Perhaps we can even convince Mother, Father, and Arkiri to join us. Grandfather as well, if he is open to trying our foods."

"You up for that, Jet?" Sein asked, looking to their son. "We could even see if the Void will eat something other than corrupted magical items."

"It more ate the energy than the item," Jet idly corrected. Then he said, "I'm fine with it."

"I'll round everyone up, then. You guys head toward the kitchen and I'll make everyone meet us?" Sein proposed, already on his feet.

"Sounds like a plan," Alana said. She stood up, disturbing the Void in the process. Jet silently filled it in as it stretched, then there was a quiet thud as it jumped to the floor. He stood up after that. Sein was gone in an instant, rushing off to go collect their family. Soon, everyone but Azerel (who had silently promised to keep watch over Sothan) was heading into the hall and down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Eila felt as if she was in shambles. She had just received amazing news, but… hearing it all hurt so much. She wanted to be near someone trustworthy, and admittedly… she basically broke into Rouge's room, out of breath with tears streaming down her face. Rouge jolted up on the bed, ready to yell if this was someone bursting in to pull a prank or something… only to instantly deflate when she saw the state her friend was in. "Whoa, hey, what's the matter?" she demanded, albeit as gently as she could, while standing and rushing over.

Eila immediately wrapped her arms around Rouge, gasping for air and sniffling. She didn't know how to explain what she was feeling. It was far too complex for her to understand clearly. "I- J-Jet-" she choked out, clutching the other woman close.

Rouge held Eila close, murmuring soothing words all the while. She didn't understand what Eila was trying to say, but that didn't mean she wouldn't help. Poor girl is nearly hysterical… It took several minutes for Eila to finally calm down, reduced to little sniffles and whimpers. She maintained a shaky yet tight hug with her friend. Once Eila was a little calmer, Rouge tried again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Eila murmured, teleporting them both onto the bed for the sake of comfort. "You know… what happened to Jet because of me-" she cut herself off, correcting her words immediately. "Because of Astra, right?"

After taking a second to adjust and get comfortable, Rouge said, "You gave me the broad details, yes."

"I had a talk with Jet for the first time since he purified me," Eila explained. She chose to not include when he'd been in his Void state. "He, uh… he told me…" Her voice grew quiet again, glancing away from Rouge. "He said he doesn't hate me… and hasn't for a while."

Naturally, this was a great surprise to Rouge. "Oh… wow," she breathed. At least for the moment, she wasn't able to come up with anything else.

Finally, Eila let go of the bat, collapsing backwards and trying to relax. "I'm just… I don't know. I didn't expect that. I went to speak with him to explain what's going on, and… things went… okay."

"I'm glad to hear it," Rouge murmured. "It's good that you two were able to do this."

"Yeah…" Eila replied softly. "We won't be able to interact like that again for a long time, I'm sure… but I'm glad it happened like that."

"You were very brave to even try," Rouge told her. "I'm proud of you. You did good. By the sounds of it, both of you did."

The cat nodded slowly, giving a sigh. She didn't know how to reply to that. Praise wasn't something she was quite well equipped to handle still… but from Rouge, it felt nice to hear. "Thank you… I mean it." Eila slowly sat up and, with a tired shiver, wrapped her arms around Rouge once more. "I have to go soon. There's a Nocturnian that needs to be removed from existence…"

Rouge readily returned the hug. "Be safe, alright? Those guys were brutes. Assholes, too. I'd hate to see you get hurt."

That was something she had no idea how to respond to, so she defaulted to logic. "The rest are all dead. I will ensure this one dies."

"Glad to hear it," Rouge chuckled.

For a moment, Eila moved to pull from the hug, but found herself leaning in gently. I have to go, but you truly bring a certain peace to my mind… I am glad we met, Rouge.

"See you soon?" Rouge continued, half asking and half promising.

Eila nodded. "It will take an act of the Faein to kill me," she promised softly, before she even realized what she was doing.

"Good," Rouge smiled. She gave Eila a gentle squeeze, mindful of her own strength, then let her go. "Alright, then. I won't keep you. Just take care of yourself."

The cat returned this gesture, not needing to be anywhere near as mindful of her own strength. "I… I will." Eila stepped back and wiped at her eyes, sighing. Alright, Kethro. Your time has run out. She teleported away, but only after smiling in Rouge's direction.

Her own smile growing a bit wider, Rouge laid back down. I'm going to hold you to this, Eila. You'd better come see me again.

~保護者~

Never before had the Faein personally had to step in and personally choose someone to fulfill an Immortal role. That was exactly the situation they found themselves in now, however. Each of the existential roles had perfectly filled themselves. Four Immortals, Sein, Alana, Wave, and Jet, were poised to ascend further and become True Immortals… to essentially become secondary Faein.

That left the four "normal" spots available. Black Doom was beginning to become one of those Immortals, as was Saethrim. The former would govern mythical and non-mythical animals and creatures while the latter would do the same with mythical people - though Saethrim could certainly help with the mythical animals as well if need be. Kathros had taken the third spot and would most likely take on a role helping govern and watch over non-mythical people as a whole… so long as his life could be preserved.

Now the only role left was that of the Immortal who would govern space. This involved creating things such as planets, asteroids, moons, nebulas, and so on, as well as maintaining them. Despite the misleading title, it would also involve the creation and maintenance of realms now and then as well. This was a crucial role for existence, albeit one that didn't involve any sort of energy. Like every other Immortal role, it was important that the most perfect candidate be the one to fill this role. The issue was that it just… wasn't happening on its own.

Naturally, the Faein knew why and had from the beginning. The answer to this conundrum was simple. There were two perfect people for this job. Each of them had nearly the same number of points in their favor. All that was left to be done now was decide who they were going to pick. That was why they had awakened from their slumbered and settled in to debate with one another.

"I count seven points in favor of Ryint," Aethra said, ever the logical one, "and eight in favor of Sothan. Nine if we count one comparatively minor point as well."

Utavi crossed her arms, feeling herself yet still wanting to simply lay back down. "But while they both are nearly equal, the problem we're running into is precisely that. They're both so well qualified and capable of handling things beyond just what the role is intended to do."

"Do we not place much weight on their origins?" Sul gently countered. "One exists to create, whereas the other found that passion later in life. That is not to say that it makes Ryint less qualified, but even so…"

Rusen frowned softly in thought. "I have a particular fondness for Ryint, if only because of a sort of 'bias'. I appreciate her outwardly kind and gentle soul, even if it is oft veiled behind erratic antics."

"By that logic," Aethra said almost teasingly, "then you should also feel 'bias' toward Sothan. He is just as kind and gentle. Just quieter, like our dear Sul."

There was amusement in Rusen's voice, the echoing sounds of a chuckle sounding from him. "I do not bear bias against him, however. I simply respect her approach."

Utavi huffed. "I dislike this because choosing one feels like ignoring the other. Both are fine candidates. And Ryint will need to be healed. We don't have to give her the role for that reason, but as it stands, she's barely alive."

"I intended to heal her soon if her friends cannot get to her in a timely manner," Sul said. Then he added, "As far as your other point, we will not be ignoring one by not selecting them for this role. There are other ways to honor them. We have all given gifts before, and I for one am not opposed to doing so again."

Rusen blinked slowly. "Hm… Despite my personal feelings, I do think Sothan is a better choice, even if only marginally. His affinity for creation is astounding and does make him a good choice."

"That it does." Aethra thought about this, then turned her head to regard the only other "female" Faein. "What say you, Utavi? What is your choice?"

"Ryint," Utavi huffed. "Though, I firmly believe Sothan will be chosen, regardless. I guess I just like Ryint's strength and devotion. She almost single-handedly stopped Ghune from remaining a 'destructive monster'."

"That certainly was quite the feat," Aethra had to agree. "However, logic dictates that I side with Rusen on this matter. That leaves on you, Sul."

The most reserved of their group sighed. "I have never enjoyed being the tiebreaker and you all know it."

Rusen nodded slowly. "Simply speak to us your thoughts and opinion, friend. If you bring this to a tie, we can figure out another solution."

After a pause, Sul did as he was asked. "They both possess warm souls," he murmured, "but hers is poised to become greatly troubled in the near future. It somewhat troubles me that she possesses such a bright spark of violence as well. She is not and never will be evil, but such readiness to attack first and ask questions later is not generally becoming of an Immortal."

Utavi had her grievances with that statement, but her opinions were withheld. "I do firmly believe Sothan is a good candidate, despite my own desire."

"He is my choice," Sul finally decided.

After a few moments, Rusen nodded again in reply. "I suppose, to a point, we are all in agreement. The role shall go to him." He sensed their friend's troubled emotions, the way Utavi's aura-composed body shifted. "I understand your frustration with this decision, and I firmly believe she was a good choice as well. You may well ease some of the ache in your being by speaking to her and bestowing a gift, unless you would desire one of us do it instead."

"Yes, I believe you should be the one to show her such favor," Aethra had to agree. "We will not influence your choice of gift, either."

Emotions were far from her thing, Utavi understood this. She, of the four, had developed a set of stronger personality traits far earlier than her companions. To an extent, it made her feel alone, but she knew that was untrue. The emotions bestowed upon our creations have brought great trouble to me, though I understand why they exist and are necessary. She decided to not think heavily on this matter, almost sighing. "I would have done so, regardless."

Aethra smiled at her. "Good. I am glad to hear it, dear sister." She turned their collective attention to another matter then. "While we are all here, there is something else I would like to discuss. As of late, I have found myself growing concerned for young Zareil."

"Yes. Even ignoring the plight she and Kaden are suffering through, her purification has left her primarily defenseless. A large portion of her life is simply missing," Rusen explained, though the situation didn't require it. All of them were Faein, after all. They knew the details already. Each of them had just always enjoyed having verbal discussions with one another and always would.

"Perhaps a second gift is in order," Sul said. "She would benefit from being bestowed Darkness anew, though not the kind she is used to."

Utavi shrugged. "Simply giving her neutral Darkness, either as strong or stronger than what she had previously, should suffice. I would advocate for a small boost in her power, since the odds are much further stacked against her than when she faced the heroes."

"Her previous strength in tandem with her demonic tendencies were once enough, but I believe you are correct," Aethra replied. "A boost of some extent is warranted."

"I know Utavi would desire she be as strong as her partner, but what are the thoughts of others? I personally worry about her state of mind and emotions. She has not fully recovered from her demonic life, and I believe it may show if she comes into contact with someone such as Rose or Steam."

"I may have a solution," Sul said. "Perhaps we should give her a small boost for now, but boost her potential to the same level as Kaden's? That way, once she is truly ready, she can gain that higher degree of strength on her own."

"It would satiate her desire," Utavi conceded easily, "not only to protect Kaden, but to grow stronger. She has certainly not lost that since purification."

"Indeed not," Aethra nodded. "I am in favor of this."

Rusen nodded as well. "As am I. I suppose we are all in agreement?" Sul murmured his assertion that he was. Aethra had already said as much herself and so stayed quiet.

Utavi shrugged. "Suppose it works."

"I have another matter to bring in, then," Rusen said. "I worry that Eila's emotions are growing darker in a dangerous manner. She has not walked toward a darker path since the incident with the deaths of her allies, but it may well pose a problem for her later in life."

"As of now, none of her allies are stepping in, either," Sul said. "In particular, Haru has shown himself to be more than okay with her behaving like this. He cannot truly be faulted for it, given that it is the norm for his people, but it does not do her any good."

Utavi glanced to Aethra. "Though she is emotional at the moment, I also understand that she is quite logical most of the time. What method do you believe we should pursue to prevent her from going too far, or do you believe she will be okay?"

"While I overall believe she will be fine," Aethra responded, "I do believe it would be wise for someone to call her recent violence to her attention. Perhaps if it comes from someone such as Sonic, or truly anyone that she trusts, it will be enough to help her reconsider the path she is beginning to take."

"In that case, someone will need to brief them on her recent actions. I can assume that would suffice," Rusen replied.

"Then I propose a division of labor," Aethra said. "Rather than Sul and Utavi each making separate trips to Ryint, I believe it makes more sense for Utavi to handle that on her own. Rusen, it may be wise for you to be the one to visit Sothan and those watching over him. There are many emotions at play there. I will handle speaking to Eila's allies. If anything else comes up, Sul will be free to handle it in our stead. Any objections?"

"None from me," Utavi replied. Rusen simply shook his head.

"Sounds fine to me, Aethra," Sul answered.

"Good. Was there anything else to discuss before we part ways?" Aethra stretched a little, banishing the last vestiges of her exhaustion for now. "I, for one, have nothing else to bring up." Sul shook his head. His only recent concern had been Ryint's health, but that was going to be handled soon.

Rusen shook his head, and Utavi shrugged. "For the time being," she said, "I believe this is everything of concern. If Rose's path does not correct itself with the actions of her allies, we should step in, but the time has not come for such."

"We will monitor that, then," Aethra decided, standing up. "In that case, I will see you all at a later time. Farewell, my kin." She promptly vanished.

Before he could leave, Rusen turned back to Utavi and Sul. "I wish to bring up something, a concern that occurred to me as a result of… a decision just now truly made. With Therin and Sona in immediate danger soon, as well as what has happened to Li and Sothan, and what will happen with Armaris, I fear that Cere will be especially distraught."

"She will be, yes," Sul readily acknowledged. "Is there a specific course of action that you wish to take?"

Utavi sighed. "We can't do anything, truly, to stop it from occurring. Even ignoring what Lior is about to do, the danger to Armaris will likely push her past the breaking point. She is intelligent, strong, and logical, but this war has waged for nearly her whole life." Utavi tilted her ethereal head, sighing. "And we must not forget her previous relation to Satsuno. Learning of his predicament will make this far worse."

"Since I am the only one without a specific task as of now," Sul replied, "I will monitor her situation. If aid from one of us winds up being needed, I will handle it unless one your specific strengths is needed in place of mine."

Rusen didn't like this, but it was the best they could do. Their best option was to monitor it. They couldn't take away free will… "Understood."

Utavi glanced at Sul. "The worry I have is that she will get herself killed. It will be bloody, should she pick up that halberd in her rage."

"If nothing else, I can assist her in achieving a clearer state of mind should things go that far," Sul answered. "Creating in people a measure of peace is part of what I enjoy doing, after all."

"Yes," Rusen replied.

Utavi had noted the somber tones in his voice this whole conversation, but… she knew why. He was distraught at the emotional plight of the many beings they watched over. She didn't like it, either. "You may enjoy the company of Cyril or Silver… perhaps the Aether, Rusen."

"I vote for Cyril," Sul said with a soft smile. "You have not visited him since you granted him his gift. A reunion may be in order."

The slightest of smiles broke onto Rusen's face, chuckling softly at his kin. "Yes, yes. This is a good idea. Thank you, both of you." Sul only nodded, glad to see that Rusen had found a moment of amusement in all of this.

"Hm," Utavi replied, applying her Erukti disguise. "Take it easy." She didn't say another word, vanishing to go fulfill her duties.

Rusen watched her go, then similarly took on his da Asani disguise. "Hm… Well, I hope to see her mood improve in time. Speaking to others may well ease her feelings."

"Should she choose to open up to them, yes," Sul nodded.

"And how are you feeling in light of recent events?"

"I am alright," was the gentle reply. "Worried just the same as you are, but overall I am alright."

"I'm glad to hear such. It is pleasant as always to hear your voice in our conversations." Rusen smiled warmly.

"No more so than that of the others," Sul chuckled. "As ever, I prefer to listen, anyway."

Rusen gave a vague shrug. "I suppose so. It appears to be time for me to go. Thank you for your efforts keeping the Widow from being revived."

"Of course," Sul murmured. "I will see you again soon, brother."

"The same for you," Rusen replied before vanishing to go finish his own tasks.

~保護者~

24,159 words this time. Sorry for the delay, but hope you all enjoy this extra long chapter! Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help. Posted (at about 5:10 p.m.) 05-17-23.